Sheriff: There are plenty of jobs for US citizens

Newsnight's Paul Mason retraces the harrowing journey taken by migrant workers the Joad family which John Steinbeck described in his 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath, to find out how it reflects the realities of America's current economic crisis.

Just off the 'Mother Road' (as John Steinbeck dubbed Route 66 - the road along which hundreds of thousands of displaced, transient farm families like the Joads travelled during the Great Depression) in Phoenix, Arizona, Paul meets "America's toughest Sheriff" Joe Arpaio, known for his outspoken stance on illegal immigration and how he deals with it.

Watch Paul Mason's film in full on Newsnight on Thursday 28 July 2011 at 2230 on BBC Two, and then afterwards on the Newsnight website and BBC iPlayer (UK only).