The workers were being seen Friday in the air-conditioned Smiles 2 Go dental van, operated by the Hospital of St. Raphael. The van visits dozens of schools during the academic year; in the summer it provides care to migrants and other adults.

Dental hygienist Sharon McCrevin heads up the program and talked as she cleaned the teeth of a young man in the dentist's chair.

"Some of them don't always make it onto the list; they're too busy at work or they just for some reason don't come out to the van. So some are two or three years between appointments, but at least they get a cleaning and an exam and X-rays." The van no longer has a dentist on board, so those in need of fillings or other work get referrals to St. Raphe's dental clinic.

"At the beginning there were a lot of people who were kind of leery of coming out," she added "but over the last couple of years, especially, I think we've built a good rapport with them. They know nothing going to hurt on the van, and we're just here to help them."

These workers come legally through the Labor Department's H-2 program. Many return to Bishop's year after year. Jonathan Bishop (pictured inside the store on the Boston Post Road, marked by the big red apple out front) is part of the fifth generation of Bishops to run the place. He said seasonal workers begin arriving in March for pruning and other early season tasks. By mid-summer, about 18 have arrived and will stay through the harvest, which ends in October.

He said domestic workers get priority for the jobs through the H-2 program, but by a clever definition, Mexican and Guatemalan workers who were already working legally in Florida and have permanent residence status (i.e., hold "green cards") are considered "domestic."

Susana Portillo (pictured at the top of this story) came from Tlaxcala, Mexico (along with most other Mexicans in New Haven). She's been working at Bishop's for the past five years and is now there year-round. Before McCrevin filled Portillo's mouth with all the usual dental accoutrements that would have made it impossible for her to speak, Portillo explained, in a mix and Spanish and English, that dental care is normally beyond her reach. "It's very expensive for us. We don't have a dentist, so we take advantage of this opportunity."

The temporary employees work in the fields and in the warehouse of Bishop's main store. The office manager said they don't qualify for health care, so the dental van serves a real need.