David K. Shipler 's Work

Throughout the various books that we have read, one of the many concepts that stood out for me was the well-being and healthcare of undocumented workers. Due to the current criminalization of immigration, most undocumented workers live in a constant state of fear and anxiety. This really made me think about the psychological and somatic outcomes of fear, stigma, trauma, and prejudice for undocumented workers. This brought into question the structural and symbolic violence that causes undocumented workers to suffer from mental and physical illnesses and how the treatment, if any, is administered.

“They are the migrants, workers of the soil sweatshops.” Migrant farm working is the hardest work someone could have to do to get paid below minimum wage.The treatment of migrant farmworkers is not fair, the women are abused, the men are not well respected, and the children do not have a proper childhood. Compared to the average American worker, migrant farmworkers do much more physical work for less pay, when compared to above average american workers, people that sit at a desk can make billions of dollars for doing nothing at all.

The book Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States illustrates the fieldwork of the author Seth M. Holmes by explaining the myriad aspects of migrant workers’ lives in the U.S.—from the politics to the social environments to the physical body. By not only studying, but living, the lives of these migrant workers, Holmes brings the reader a view unseen by the vast majority and provides the opportunity for greater understanding through the intense details of his work. The voices of vastly different characters—real people—are captured and expounded on without judgment but with deep consideration for all factors that contribute to each person’s life, opinions, and knowledge. Ultimately, a picture of intersectionality is painted in the colors of migrants, mothers, fathers, children, doctors, soldiers, executives, the poor, the rich, and more.

In this documentary about Mexican’s workers experience in Ontario, Canada, Min Sook Lee addresses the issue of the Foreign Temporary Worker program. Specifically, El Contrado demonstrates how Mexicans come to Canada in order to work during several months under bad working conditions. Those workers have to leave their family constantly in order to help them financially. They work 8 months a year, which means that they are home in Mexico only for 4 months (El Contrado). Maximo left his family behind; unfortunately, he cannot even for four months in order to see his son as he is illegal in Canada. As those Mexican workers, Maximo experienced bad working conditions. Here he briefly talks about working conditions and explains how he wanted to get

What I enjoyed when reading the book was that there were multiple different types of people that Shipler interviewed. For example, they were not all drug addicts; some people mentioned in the book were victims of abuse, some were cursed since birth growing up in low-income families, and some were discriminated against for their appearances. I think this is important to show when talking about the poor class because many people stereotype the poor believing that they all did not go to college and became addicted to drugs. Caroline Payne went to college and got her Associates degree, however “she never landed a job in her field of training…the associate’s degree proved useless as a credential” (Shipler, 60). As shown, that stereotype is incorrect. All that is needed to become poor is a case of bad

He is able to do this by bringing along the audience into a sense of emotions with a true story regarding a worker who is an illegal immigrant. This allowed the audience to feel connected to the illegal worker. Nadadur introduces the undocumented worker by providing a background of the worker’s past hometown. Nadadur believes that the reader is more likely to be persuaded by the argument in the article when their emotions are intensified. The authors take advantage of pathos to illustrate the issue of illegal immigrants as a positive factor to the U.S. economy. The anecdote of the Illegal immigrant worker allows a likeness between the audience and the

Life in America has come with many obstacles as Mexican immigrants have been faced with a language barrier, the lack of health insurance, a poor education coupled with a low income, all in addition to living in poverty (Zong & Batalova, 2016). In an English aptitude research performed in 2014, 69 percent of Mexican immigrants showed that they have a very limited English competence and only 4 percent spoke it fluently at home (Zong & Batalova, 2016). One positive element however, that they are well known for is their work ethic as most of them work. Many Mexican immigrants work in

Since the first human civilization, cheap, exploitable labor has been inherent to the economic system. This was illustrated in The Life of Peasants, one of the provided stimulus materials, in which it was accepted that providing for the upper classes was “the obligation of the servile class”. Ergo, the US can trace its history through the various exploited labor systems, starting with our dependance on indentured servants, to slavery, to our current reliance on undocumented workers.Unfortunately, the cultural progress indicated by the advancements of modern life, have not been paralleled by an alternate method of production. Worker exploitation, especially in agriculture, is conventional and commonplace. In the midst of the 2016 presidential primaries, with illegal immigration a hot topic among all candidates, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the people most often victimized by this system are mexican immigrants. “America’s immigration system is broken” - Hillary “The country has to be able to lock its doors” says Kasich. Trump suggests building a wall. Bernie advocates for comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship. Regardless of political leanings, our politician’s inciting statements whisper of truth. The immigration system is broken, and there is an overwhelming number of undocumented immigrants in America. An estimated 11.4 million of them (as of 2012 according to the department of homeland

In this chapter, the author shared his field research experience working with migrants on farms in Washington States and California. In the course of being a berry picker on Tanaka Brothers Farm in the Skagit Valley, he managed to observe on and deeply communicate with the farm workers with different job positions. He revealed the ethnically segregated farm labor structure, and how it affected the migrant farmworkers’ wellbeing and rights.

Unlike the primary labor, this labor does not have much security or benefits that that can help these people progress (Healey, 2013, pg. 431). Under this labor, owners/bosses from construction sites or export industries favor undocumented immigrant workers due to the control they can have over them (Healey, 2013, pg. 431). Haitian’s, Dominicans, undocumented immigrants, and other less educated groups fall under the second labor market (Healey, 2013, pg. 431). Under the ethnic enclave mode of immigrant incorporation, there is a high concentration ethnic of individuals/groups who enter the U.S as entrepreneurs (Healey, 2013, pg. 431). They built their own business, like retail stores and bring economic, social, and other type of support for immigrants in many different social classes (Healey, 2013, pg. 431). The interconnections they get from their businesses help built relationships with the larger American society (Healey, 2013, pg.431). Cuban’s, Jewish, Koreans and Arab Americans usually follow this pathway (Healey, 2013, pg.

The stories presented in the Underground Undergrads book by UCLA Centre for Labour Research and Education, inspire one to agree with the DREAM Act. They provide insight into the world of the Undocumented students and force

In this paper the topic of immigrant labor is that people from around the world have long immigrated to the United States seeking employment opportunities to have a better life style, but while the U.S. economy has benefited by the talents and energy of migrants and immigrants there have also been concerns. According to Immigrant Labor (2015),

. Key concept 1: De Castro et al. explains how lack of documentation can give employers a medium to exploit, control, and intimidate poor immigrant workers into tolerating foul conditions ultimately affecting their state of health. Since poor immigrant workers are terrified of being deported to their home country they are less likely to demand better working environments resulting in the detrition of their health and wellbeing.

Immigrant farmworkers, who were the main voice of oppressive labor laws and poor working conditions in the late 1960s through the 1990s have their message strongly echoed in “The Union of Their Dreams” by Miriam Pawel. Instead of focusing on Cesar Chávez, the believed frontrunner of the farmworker labor movement, Pawel chose to guide her attention towards the overall narrative of the movement by highlighting the stories of eight different second-level UFW workers who have their experiences shared through multiple sources (letters, memos, stories, transcripts and notes written in the time that the events took place). This allowed the reader to gain a perspective of each featured farmworker and view situations through the farmworker’s point of

Ronald Reagan once said, “We fought a war on poverty, and poverty won.” I read the book, Dancing in the dark by Morris Dickstein. This book was about the great depression, and the impacts it had on American life. The traditional thought of poverty, people dying of hunger and people lying in the roads, has been erased. America has abolished poverty by the traditional standards but the thought of poverty and what it is has changed. In America we consider poverty to be spending all your money on bills, so you have no money left for food to feed your family. We consider poverty to be just being poor. One-Third of our population makes less than $38,000. This is not enough to be able to be above the poverty line. Anything below this