With so much of the current debate around immigration caught up in the heated rhetoric of an upcoming Presidential election year, it is easy to gloss over the fact that these barbs being thrown around are about real people. The most at risk, exploited and vulnerable populations caught in this current debate are Latina workers. Immigration reform while no silver bullet would go a long way to giving both legal and undocumented Latina workers a voice to speak out against exploitation in the workplace.
A recent report released by the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) as part of a campaign to empower and protect Latinas in the workplace underscores the need for CIR to protect one of the most at risk segments in our labor market. To help contextualize exactly how an overhaul of our immigration system would affect this population it often helps to hear the stories of those currently here living in the shadows and what the process of legalization would give them in terms of worker protection and better pay.
Reverend Mary Moreno-Richardson, Coordinator for Hispanic Ministry at St. Paul's Cathedral noted that many women whether entering the country or currently here without documentation have "been raped, they've been threatened, they've been fired...so much abuse."
The fact is that many women coming to the United States often face brutal hardship, they are over-represented in low-wage job sectors, and are often exploited for their labor. They often face issues of wage theft, are often paid less than minimum wage, are refused overtime pay and are forced by employers to work off the clock.
Immigration is an incredibly complex issue, but at its heart it is a labor issue. Part of the reason that these workers face such exploitation is due to the fact that an unknown segment of this population is undocumented. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics includes undocumented immigrants in their labor surveys, they do not separately identify them in the data they present. According to a technical note in the BLS report respondents who classify themselves as Foreign Born include "legally admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents such as students and temporary workers, and undocumented immigrants." While this report does shine some light on the horrible atrocities occurring here in the United States, it is very likely that the numbers presented are actually much higher as undocumented immigrants are notoriously hard to include in surveys of this sort.
Hector Sanchez, executive director of LCLAA sees an overhaul of our immigration system as a way to offer some protection to this often overlooked segment of our labor force. "To break the cycle of oppression and exploitation, workers must feel free to raise issues and stand up against abuses in the workplace. Labor protections are irrelevant if workers don't know about them and if language barriers, fear, and immigration status creates an environment where workers have to choose between abuse and a pay check to provide for their families."
This report highlights an important fact often overlooked by many in our society: Latinas workers are among the most exploited segment of our labor force; both documented and undocumented face tremendous hardships working in our country. While there are certainly segments of our electorate and political establishment who would rather not deal with these issues, the fact remains this is something that speaks volumes about our society. This is not just an issue of documented and admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents such as students and temporary workers, and undocumented immigrants. Having an open and honest conversation about how reforming our immigration system can provide those without recourse an ability to stand up for their rights is a worthwhile one, and may be the first best step on a pathway to greater equity for all workers.
Follow Kristian Ramos on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kramos1841
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
The proposal is to move those working illegally in the USA to legal status. That sounds innocent enough – until you understand that work rules fostered by the National Labor Relations Board would now guarantee that those jobs would continue to be held by those who came to and currently reside in the USA illegally. But what of those Citizens and Legal Residents who lost their jobs because those working in the USA illegally undercut them to work for lower wages? Wages that are now so low that they barley represent a living wage? They would be frozen out from the jobs they used to hold with our Government’s support. Potential and past Citizen and Legal Resident Workers who used to do the jobs become like fatted calves offered up for the slaughter.
That is the point. The Illegal Immigrant comes into the USA, undercuts the wages of the Citizens and Legal Residents, takes the job, then gets our Government to give amnesty. After amnesty the wages go back up and the government offers protection so the job is not lost back to those Americans who are now unemployed.
This is despicable. Everybody inside this country's borders is protected against crimes like sexual assault and assault. These women need to report these crimes to the police.
Women, children, and even men are exploited and victimized all the time.
Aside fromt he typical barriers to reporting such crimes (i.e. worried about retaliation from the person who did it, etc), immigrants have 2 additional barriers:
1) Police in most Latin American countries are notoriously corrupt and exploit everyday people - if you come from one of these countries, you are NOT going to trust the police
2) If you are here and undocumented, the LAST thing you want to do is go to the authorities, for fear that it might lead to your deportation
It is obvious that mandatory e-Verify, and strong sanctions against employers that are strictly enforced, are the best way to solve these problems. That doesn't suit the amnesty advocates, so we are continually given only one "solution" to all problems, no matter how ineffective history has shown this "solution" to be.
After Katrina, thousands of citizens were trained at the expense of Safe Harbor company in HazMat. They were to have certification cards, which FEMA required a certain number.
Upon finishing the course, the people were sent home but the company didn't issue the cards. Instead they advertised South of the Border and brought thousands of Mexicans here illegally. They took the jobs and were issued cards. They weren't issued any safety equipment for HazMat work.
Many died. Many of the survivors stayed after New Orleans was done and took jobs that were previously held by citizens. Since they would work cheaper, they displaced people and drove the wages of the area (already depressed) down even further. Louisiana and the Border Patrol have been trying to get rid of them ever since.
Laws can only protect legal workers. We have plenty of citizens who need jobs and we don't need millions of foreigners to compete with. Especially not when they don't care to play by the rules to begin with and then complain that they are not treated fairly.
Your article addresses the very issue of migrant labour protections that are yet to ratified by the US and the UN. Of course those agreements in waiting do not stop the US from protecting those who come to work in the country. Expecting workers not to have a voice turns upside down our already skewed perception of justice.
I hope that other states trying to plant guest worker programs that do not guarantee workers' rights will learn from your article and other authors that the place to begin with migrant workers is at the federal level and that migrant labour rights, a category of human rights, it is not a partisan but UN member states issue.
Increasing massively the supply of labor always increases peoples ability to bargin with employers and make better wages.
Please go back to school and learn the very first and most important rule of economics - supply and demand.
This country can't continue to import the worlds highest amount of foreign labor and not suffer unless we also agree to have to worlds highest amount of growth in every area. That means growth of pollution, growth in landfills, growth in roads, (loss) in open spaces, growth in housing developments on farmland, growth in strip malls, etc.
Growth is a Ponzi scheme. Until we have unlimited land, unlimited water, unlimited energy and unlimited funds to support unlimited poor/uneducated people we MUST have limits. Those limits must treat everyone the same, whether they live 5 miles over the border, snuck here illegally or are waiting patiently in the home country for their turn to immigrate legally.
Reform - or shall we call it what it really is, amnesty is giving preference to those who broke our laws and those who likely lack the qualifications to ever be accepted anyway. If amnesty worked to solve the immigration problem the why isn't it solved? We have tried it SEVEN times and the ONLY thing it accomplishes is to make the problem worse - far worse.
Considering the negative value judgements made on those who make up the working poor, and the figurative marathons they must run to stay in place (working two or more minimum wage jobs just to get by paycheck to paycheck etc.) this is more of a labor issue than an immigration issue per se.