The Dangers Of Immigrant Workers

America was founded on the basis of immigration. Had the Europeans not come to North America, there would have been no colonies. Had there been no colonies, there would have been no United States of America. Immigration hold an essential role in the history of the United States. Despite this, there are still many who denounce immigration and all that it stands for. Many believe that their jobs are being stolen by immigrants. However, that cannot be farther than the truth. In reality, immigration has had a positive impact on the workforce of America by bringing with them skills that are useful for the workforce, support the careers that already exist, and are more likely to start their own business.

The readings for this week consisted of the introduction and first three chapters of Sarah B. Horton’s They Leave Their Kidneys In The Fields, Horton’s ethnographic exploration of migrant farm workers propensity for illness while working the fields. Horton interviews a variety of individuals, including field workers, attorneys, and USDA officials (Horton, pg. 25). Horton’s ethnographic style is interesting, as she uses what seem to be field diary entries along with a following theoretical analysis (Horton, 2016). Her accounts address both Salvadorian and Mexican immigrants (Horton, 2016). Horton does a good job of appearing neutral in her analysis of the situation.

Others say that migrant workers are taking the jobs of national citizens, they are treated the way anyone would be, and they bring down our “standard” living.

The labor movement is a really broad topic and within it, there are many movements that make it up. Let us think of it as the term ice cream, there are many toppings that contribute to creating the biggest ice cream. Immigrant labor is one of the toppings to the labor movement. Immigrant workers have struggled throughout time to get equal pay in jobs, to get better benefits, or to even get jobs because they come from another country that’s not the United States of America. The immigration labor movement has been very powerful throughout the years economically and politically and it has been shown in 20 and 21-century movements and many moments in time. Although it may seem that The Mexican Farm labor movement in 1942 is not connected to The

Migrant workers are the reason our families to have the fruits and vegetables they need year-round. I have read the article on Cesar Chavez’s, a man who was born into a family of migrant workers, and watched a video about migrant workers. The video and article are similar, but also different in the following ways.

This book has a mix of tones and objectives and sometime it gives an ethnographic description of migrant life and work, it also can be used as a reflection on conducting anthropological field study in context of transnational migration and mobility, it links at times analysis of structural violence of changing policies and realities. I found it a sincere human portrayals of the condition of migrant farm labor in America. “I hope,” Holmes writes, “that understanding the mechanisms by which certain classes of people become written off and social inequalities become taken for granted will play a part in undoing these very mechanisms and the structures of which they are a part. It is my hope that those who read these pages will be moved in mutual humanity, such that representations of and policies toward migrant laborers become more humane, just, and response to migrant laborers as people themselves” (page 29). A significant aspect of Holmes’ approach in this book is the notion of “embodied anthropology,” the idea being that the researcher approaches an understanding of the conditions being studied through the immersion of one’s own mind and body into the trans local world of the informants—doing the work they do, making the treks they make, and feeling some of the feelings they inevitably experience. The author is careful to avoid combining his experiences with the migrant workers who he worked with, or assuming

The United States of America today resembles a melting pot, because it is filled with many different ethnicities, cultures, and religions, due to the incoming immigrants from different countries. However, there was a time when immigrants were a threat to America, were despised due to economic conflicts, and were socially unaccepted because of their differences. The presence of Immigrants during the 1920s significantly affected America socially and economically, increasing negative attitudes towards the “new immigrants” as evidenced by the First Red Scare, labor and workforce, and societies and neighborhoods.

According to Singer, in times of economic crisis immigrants take jobs away from U.S.-born citizens. In an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data there are several industry sectors and the educational status of immigrant and native workers examine their role across a broad set of industries and occupations. The most of immigrants share the U.S. labor force, since the immigrants come to the U.S. during their working ages. The higher share of working age adults is those who have not completed high school among the foreign-born than among the U.S.-born. This reflects demand for workers in industries such as food services, construction, and agriculture where the most of the immigrant workers are low-skilled. Mexican workers, for instance were

Fear of being picked up by Immigration and Naturalization Services due to their undocumented status causes many farm workers to go into hiding in the communities that they work and live in and further contributes to the isolation that farm workers routinely experience. So in many ways, Migrant farm workers work in settings that do not mirror those of the majority of the nation’s working populace. In spite of these challenges, for many the hopes and dreams of making more money in the U.S than in their countries of origin is enough to drive them to make this enormous sacrifice. Many experience great pride in the contribution that they make to society through their labor for they realize their work feeds the world. For these farm workers there is also a sense of accomplishment in their ability to support their families in purchasing homes or going to school in their home country. For others, their hopes and dreams do not always materialize to the degree envisioned and promised with 61 percent of U.S. farm workers’ income falling below the poverty

Over than 10 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, and 1,400 more arrive every day (Katel). Seeing the great economic opportunity in the U.S. immigrants cross the border to work low wage jobs and begin a new life. While illegal immigrants only take up a small 5 percent of the United states workforce, these illegal aliens take up American jobs, threaten national security, and ruin culture because the refuse to assimilate (Katel). Many agree in this debate that the presence of so many immigrants actually boost our economy. Illegal immigration raises difficult questions about the American economy and how the country continues to seek low wage labor while

I simply plan to write about the mistreatment of the illegal immigrants. So much strife and discord about this topic. It cause a lot of unrest among the citizens of the U.S. There is so much back and forth on this topic, especially from a political standpoint. I intend to bring these insecurities and injustices that many immigrants, not just illegal, face in our society. I will analyze the welfare of the illegal immigrants. From the competition of minimum wage jobs to immigrants being paid less. In addition to the unfair treatments within detention centers because of the biased of the people, masking it as public safety. In addition to the youth being greatly affected by this. The so called “America’s Future” is doomed to suffer penalties

For this oral history course I will explore the topic of immigrant’s laborers and their story as me and two other students of the class, have been selected to be internes for The Immigrant Workers Center and contribute to the creation of a collection of stories from immigrant laborers to add clips to the organisation’s website. I am particularly interested by this project, as I already have some knowledge about immigrants and their struggles due to my parents, yet I seek to learn more and hear new stories, new perspectives and new experiences about immigration. The knowledge about the immigrants’ difficulties and concerns that I have comes from my parents and their friends, who are partly Ukrainian and Congolese. Now I want to hear from

The last forty years have seen a dramatic upsurge in the figure of both legal and illegal immigrants arriving in the United States. The overall immigrant population has increased from 9.6 million in 1970 (4.8 percent of the population) to 43 million (13 percent the population) in 2014 (http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states/). This immense influx of immigration has incited passionate debate over its costs and benefits. One of the dominant topics in this debate is its effect on American workers, mostly those who work at the bottom of the labor force. There is some discrepancy about the scope of the impact on American workers. However, economists and politicians mostly agree that less educated workers have done badly in the labor market as immigration has increased. Studying the history, causes, and effects of the U.S. Immigration policy will aid in defining its effect on domestic workers.

First, doctors in migrant health value their own observations and biotechnical testing of the patient’s body over the words of the patient. Abelino’s descriptions of his social and employment history received very little attention. The doctors didn’t think about how international market asymmetries and local discriminatory practices placed him in the labor position that caused his knee injury in the first place. Second, the doctors inadvertently blamed their patients for their suffering because they lacked the time to fully explore the problem and were unable to see the transnational and local structures that were affecting Abelino’s body. Third, structural violence not only victimizes the poor but also victimizes the poor patient just trying to receive health care treatment. (Holmes, pg. 125)

The Meza-Valdes brothers state, “We set out to shine a light on the daily struggle these people go through everyday as essentially the lifeline of our communities. There are real horrors they go though everyday and we wanted to represent that in an extreme high concept way.” Because most immigrant workers remain ignored and forgotten about, many become “sacrificed” in the name of production. They are generally only used in situations that benefit others, as we see what Elisia’s boss, William, does to workers who hold no more “value.”