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61. The US Labor Standards Enforcement System and Low-Wage Immigrants: Recommendations for Legislative and Administrative Reform

Author:
Donald Kerwin
Publication Date:
01-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on Migration and Human Security
Institution:
Center for Migration Studies of New York
Abstract:
Low-wage immigrants in the United States, particularly the 8 million unauthorized workers, suffer from widespread labor standards violations. Their protection represents a singular challenge for modestly-resourced federal and state regulators, particularly in an era of record immigration enforcement. Many employers hire the unauthorized, knowingly or unknowingly, because they cannot attract sufficient numbers of authorized workers. An enduring minority, however, prefer to employ unauthorized workers in order to suppress wages and working conditions and to gain an advantage over their competitors. Their business model depends on the exploitation of workers who are less likely to complain, organize or pursue other remedies for mistreatment. Exacerbating matters, the unauthorized work disproportionately in jobs to which certain labor standards do not apply, and they belong to labor unions at lower rates than the US workforce as a whole (Schmitt 2010). Employers, in turn, face intense competition and pressure to cut costs. In addition, intensive immigration enforcement can make employees more vulnerable to retaliation for exercising their rights and less likely to challenge abuses (Cho and Smith 2013).
Political Geography:
United States

62. Waiting for José: The Minutemen's Pursuit of America

Author:
Maryann Bylander
Publication Date:
01-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on Migration and Human Security
Institution:
Center for Migration Studies of New York
Abstract:
Waiting for José uncovers the practices and motivations of those who form the ranks of the Minutemen — a U.S. anti -immigration movement that has garnered national attention over the past decade for its voluntary border patrols and anti -immigration campaigns. By liberal media accounts, the Minutemen are often depicted as xenophobic vigilantes; while in the eyes of the conservative media, they are heroic patriots. The Minutemen's website boasts their mission as "bringing awareness to the illegal alien invasion," and describes their efforts to protect American jobs, fight against fraud (they claim that "millions of illegal immigrants are getting a bigger tax refund than you"), and stop unlawful immigration. Whether readers are sympathetic to or enraged by the Minutemen's political bravado, they will be captivated by Harel Shapira's work helping us understand them.
Political Geography:
United States and America

63. A Voice of the US Southwestern Border: The 2012 "We the Border: Envisioning a Narrative for Our Future" Conference

Author:
Josiah McC. Heyman
Publication Date:
01-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on Migration and Human Security
Institution:
Center for Migration Studies of New York
Abstract:
In July 2012, a diverse group of US residents living near the US-Mexico border met in El Paso, Texas for a conference entitled, We the Border: Envisioning a Narrative for Our Future. This paper describes their vision for the US-Mexico border that is at odds with the widespread view of the border as a threat to the United States. These border residents viewed their region as a set of human communities with rights, capacities, and valuable insights and knowledge. They embraced an alternative vision of border enforcement that would focus on "quality" (dangerous entrants and contraband) over "quantity" (mass migration enforcement). They called for investments in the functionality and security of ports of entry, rather than in between ports of entry. They noted the low crime rate in US border cities, and examined how policies of not mixing local law enforcement with federal immigration enforcement contributed to this achievement. They saw the border region as the key transportation and brokerage zone of the emerging, integrated North American economy. In their view, the bilingual, bicultural, and binational skills that characterize border residents form part of a wider border culture that embraces diversity and engenders creativity. Under this vision the border region is not an empty enforcement zone, but is part of the national community and its residents should enjoy the same constitutional and human rights as other US residents. The conference participants emphasized the necessity and value of accountability and oversight of central government enforcement operations, and the need for border communities to participate in federal decision-making that affects their lives.
Political Geography:
United States and North America

64. Citizen or Subordinate: Permutations of Belonging in the United States and the Dominican Republic

Author:
Shaina Aber and Mary Small
Publication Date:
01-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on Migration and Human Security
Institution:
Center for Migration Studies of New York
Abstract:
The Dominican Republic and the United States have both experienced tensions arising from migratory flows from poorer, less stable neighbors. Until recently, both countries had constitutions which conferred citizenship by birth with very limited exceptions. Despite these similarities, their respective discourses around jus soli citizenship, particularly for the children of unauthorized migrants from the poorer neighboring countries, have manifested in different ways. The identity of the United States as a nation of immigrants has limited the success of campaigns to revoke jus soli citizenship for the children of unauthorized immigrants, but the persistent articulation of this idea as a response to illegal migration has shifted the parameters of the immigration debate. In the Dominican Republic, the historical construction of national identity and anti-Haitian discourse has led to an evolution in Dominican law which codifies already established practices that deny citizenship to children of Haitian migrants. In both cases, movements that support more inclusive understandings of societal belonging, like the DREAMers in the United States and youth movements in the Dominican Republic, may offer the most effective way of protecting universal jus soli citizenship regimes.
Political Geography:
United States