Those Who Remain

With the constant flow of workers illegally entering the United States from Mexico, many wives and children are left behind. Uncertain about the fate of their loved ones, these women and children often wait for months or even years for their husbands and fathers to return. follows nine families in six provinces in Mexico over the course of a year. Mothers, widows, children and teenagers all speak out, expressing their ideas about the future -- some are hopeful, while others are extremely disappointed. In order to earn a little money in the United States -- money that is usually gone by the time the workers return -- family members on both sides of the border have to endure great loneliness. Fathers raise their children by telephone, while women say they cannot stand living like this any longer. In some villages, more than half of the male population has left, with far-reaching consequences for the local economy. Those left behind often have to seek work elsewhere as well. is a probing portrait of a society being crippled by an enormous exodus of people -- people who are in fact needed in their own country.