Client: High Country News – May 2026

AD: Roberto Guerra

Brief: In the Southwest’s illicit cannabis boom, Chinese migrant workers were often treated as criminals first — until investigators began chasing their bosses. A story by Wufei Yu.

A female Chinese immigrant worker is cutting weeds

A group of immigrants are cutting weeds in an isolated room

A male Chinese immigrant worker is being picked up for work

Weed plants being loaded to a truck are seen by a passer

A group of potential investors are listening to a business pitch

Glasshouses full of weeds are busted by government officers

A couple of immigrant workers finally live a normal life