Immigration and Work 9781784416317, 9781784416324

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IMMIGRATION AND WORK

RESEARCH IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF WORK Series Editor: Lisa Keister Recent Volumes: Volume 3:

Unemployment

Volume 4:

High Tech Work

Volume 5:

The Meaning of Work

Volume 6:

The Globalization of Work

Volume 7:

Work and Family

Volume 8:

Deviance in the Workplace

Volume 9:

Marginal Employment

Volume 10:

Transformation of Work

Volume 11:

Labor Revitalization: Global Perspectives and New Initiatives

Volume 12:

The Sociology of Job Training

Volume 13:

Globalism/Localism at Work

Volume 14:

Diversity in the Workforce

Volume 15:

Entrepreneurship

Volume 16:

Worker Participation: Current Research and Future Trends

Volume 17:

Work Place Temporalities

Volume 18:

Economic Sociology of Work

Volume 19:

Work and Organizations in China after Thirty Years of Transition

Volume 20:

Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace

Volume 21:

Institutions and Entrepreneurship

Volume 22:

Part 1: Comparing European Workers Part A: Experiences and Inequalities Part 2: Comparing European Workers Part B: Policies and Institutions

Volume 23:

Religion, Work, and Inequality

Volume 24:

Networks, Work and Inequality

Volume 25:

Adolescent Experiences and Adult Work Outcomes: Connections and Causes

Volume 26:

Work and Family in the New Economy

RESEARCH IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF WORK VOLUME 27

IMMIGRATION AND WORK EDITED BY

JODY AGIUS VALLEJO University of Southern California

United Kingdom North America India Malaysia China

Japan

Emerald Group Publishing Limited Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK First edition 2015 Copyright r 2015 Emerald Group Publishing Limited Reprints and permissions service Contact: [email protected] No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-78441-632-4 ISSN: 0277-2833 (Series)

ISOQAR certified Management System, awarded to Emerald for adherence to Environmental standard ISO 14001:2004. Certificate Number 1985 ISO 14001

CONTENTS LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

ix

INTRODUCTION

xi

PART I: LEGAL STATUS AND LOW-WAGE LABOR MIGRANTS CENTRAL AMERICAN IMMIGRANT WORKERS: HOW LEGAL STATUS SHAPES THE LABOR MARKET EXPERIENCE Cecilia Menjı´var

3

BETWEEN SUPPORT AND SHAME: THE IMPACTS OF WORKPLACE VIOLATIONS FOR IMMIGRANT FAMILIES Shannon Gleeson

29

PART II: LABOR UNIONS AND IMMIGRANT WORKERS LABOR UNION ACTIVITY AND THE CIVIC PARTICIPATION OF LATINO IMMIGRANT WORKERS Veronica Terriquez

55

EMBEDDED SOLIDARITY: INTERNATIONAL MIGRANT LABOR ADVOCACY IN SOUTH KOREA Joon K. Kim

75

v

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CONTENTS

PART III: THE MACROSTRUCTURAL CONTEXT OF RECEPTION AND LABOR MARKET INTEGRATION INTERSECTIONAL DIFFERENCES IN SEGMENTED ASSIMILATION: SKILL AND GENDER IN THE CONTEXT OF RECEPTION Zulema Valdez

101

ECONOMIC PROGRESS, STAGNATION, OR DECLINE? OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY OF NON-EU IMMIGRANTS IN EUROPE Sonia Pereira, Erik Snel and Margrietha ‘t Hart

129

PART IV: NEW DIRECTIONS IN IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRANSNATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION: NEW CHINESE IMMIGRANTS IN SINGAPORE AND THE UNITED STATES Min Zhou and Hong Liu

169

ADAPTATION AND RETURN AMONG ISRAELI ENCLAVE AND INFOTECH ENTREPRENEURS Steven J. Gold

203

FRANCHISING ETHNIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP: IMMIGRANT BUSINESS OWNERS AND AN ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC MODEL Pawan Dhingra and Jennifer Parker

231

Contents

vii

PART V: NEW GENDERED OCCUPATIONAL NICHES AND IMMIGRANT/NATIVE WORKPLACE BOUNDARIES A NEW GENDERED OCCUPATIONAL NICHE: LATINA PATHWAYS INTO THE TEACHING PROFESSION Glenda M. Flores and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo

255

BRIDGING BOUNDARIES OF DIFFERENCE: INTERGROUP CONTACT BETWEEN IMMIGRANTS AND NATIVES IN THE CONTEXT OF WORK Elizabeth Miller

289

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

315

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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Pawan Dhingra

Department of Sociology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

Glenda M. Flores

Department of Chicano/Latino Studies, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

Shannon Gleeson

Department of Labor Relations, Law, and History, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Steven J. Gold

Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

Margrietha ‘t Hart

Department of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Pierrette HondagneuSotelo

Department of Sociology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Joon K. Kim

Department of Ethnic Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

Hong Liu

School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Cecilia Menjı´var

T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

Elizabeth Miller

Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Westchester Community College, Valhalla, NY, USA

ix

x

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Jennifer Parker

Pennsylvania State University, Center Valley, PA, USA

Sonia Pereira

Human Rights Institute, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain; Centre for Geographical Studies, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

Erik Snel

Department of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Veronica Terriquez

Department of Sociology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Zulema Valdez

Department of Sociology, School of Social Science, History, and the Arts, University of California, Merced, CA, USA

Min Zhou

School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Chinese Heritage Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

INTRODUCTION Immigrants and their descendants are growing populations that are rapidly changing the racial/ethnic fabric of the United States and many societies across the globe. People migrate from one place to another for a multitude of reasons but work whether in the high-skilled, low-wage, or informal sectors of the economy, or the drive to establish a business remains a primary factor. In the United States, immigrants comprise 16.3 percent of the total labor force, up 3 percent from 2000 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Force Statistics, 2014). Just under half of foreign-born workers are Latino, whereas Asian immigrants comprise nearly a quarter, compared with 9.7 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, of the native-born labor force (U.S. Bureau of Labor Force Statistics, 2014). In the United States, immigrants start businesses at higher rates than the native born (Farlie, 2012), and immigrants or their offspring have founded more than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies (Partnership for a New American Economy, 2010). Aging populations and declining population growth among long-settled natives in nations around the world means that immigrants and their native-born children will play a critical role in future economies and labor markets. Many countries, including the United States are projected to see their share of the population age 65 or older surpass the share that is younger than 15 by mid-century (Kochhar, 2014). In the United States, 93 percent of the growth of the working-age population by 2050 will be accounted for by immigrants and their nativeborn children (Passel & Cohn, 2008). These global demographic shifts make it imperative that scholars continue to critically analyze the relationship between immigration and work. Immigration must be understood within the context of global capitalism, and scholars have long investigated the associations between global restructuring, market factors in sending and receiving nations, and migration through the lens of work (Fernandez-Kelly, 1984; Massey, Durand, & Malone, 2003; Sassen, 1988). Ethnic enterprise and the workplace have also served as critical social laboratories to investigate processes of adaptation, integration, and boundary making, not only for immigrants but also for their native-born children (Light & Bonacich, 1988; Light & Gold, xi

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INTRODUCTION

2000; Portes & Zhou, 1992; Waldinger & Lichter, 2003). This volume brings together new empirical studies and theoretical innovations from scholars at the forefront of cutting edge research concentrating on the intersection of immigration and work. The chapters underscore many of the issues that are salient in research on immigration today, such how legal status impacts immigrant workers in varying contexts. The chapters also apply new empirical and theoretical innovations to emerging themes of labor unions, gendered occupational niches among the children of immigrants, and transnational workers and high-skilled entrepreneurs that characterize today’s migration flows. Chapters in this volume investigate core questions such as how larger structural inequalities in sending and receiving nations, immigrant entry policies, group characteristics, gender dynamics, and micro level processes, such as discrimination and access to ethnic networks and community resources, shape labor market outcomes, workplace experiences, boundary making, and patterns of immigrant integration. These topics are investigated among diverse populations and societies using varying methodological approaches, but together, they underscore how macrostructural factors and unequal distributions of power at both the macro and micro level reinforce disadvantage, or privilege, among immigrant workers and their descendants. Several contributions, especially those in the first two parts of the volume that detail the impact of legal status and labor unions for low-income workers, provide critical insights for policy makers attempting to address issues of immigrant mobility and integration in varying contexts. The volume is organized into five parts. The two chapters in Part I examine how legal status structures the lives of low-wage immigrant workers and provides new insights on the ways in which legal status impacts social structures beyond the workplace. Cecilia Menjı´ var, in “Central American Immigrant Workers: How Legal Status Shapes the Labor Market Experience,” details how larger structural factors, such as processes of globalization and political and economic crises wrought by a long history of American intervention in the region, have pushed Central Americans to migrate to the United States. She provides an overview of the main features of the lives of Central American immigrant women and men as workers, including their diversity of class, race, national origins, reasons for migration, and current employment patterns. Menjı´ var demonstrates that Central Americans defy the image of the documented-undocumented dichotomy, as they hold a range of legal statuses, from unauthorized, to temporary protected status, to refugee status, and these statuses dictate where they live and work. The majority experience “legal instability,”

Introduction

xiii

which, combined with current immigration enforcement practices, relegate many into increasingly vulnerable positions. Ultimately, Menjı´ var argues that this “legal instability” leaves Central American workers vulnerable to workplace violations and it may also hinder the integration of their nativeborn children. The second chapter in this section elaborates on themes laid out in the first by elucidating the challenges that low-wage Latino immigrant workers experience when they seek restitution for workplace violations. In “Between Support and Shame: The Impacts of Workplace Violations for Immigrant Families,” Shannon Gleeson combines survey research, observations, and in-depth interviews conducted with low-wage undocumented immigrant workers who experience material and symbolic impacts from income loss, unjust termination, sexual harassment, and unsafe work conditions. These abuses have far ranging effects because they also impact workers’ families. For example, workers must balance their family obligations, both among kin in the United States and in their home countries, and employers often exploit family relationships to exert control and elicit docility from workers. In an important contribution, Gleeson argues that research on low-wage work overwhelmingly emphasizes dyadic relationships between employers and workers. However, scholars, as well as policy makers and worker protection advocates, must also consider the familial relationships and international communities in which workers are embedded. The chapters in Part II show how labor unions attempt to address and overcome the social and economic marginalization experienced by workers in domestic and international contexts, and how labor unions have the potential to shape the integration of marginalized and non-citizen immigrant workers and demonstrates the importance of examining these questions in an international context. Veronica Terriquez, in “Labor Union Activity and the Civic Participation of Latino Immigrant Workers,” uses data gathered from a Los Angeles, California janitors’ labor union to examine whether Latino immigrant workers obtain skills from union participation that they then use to address problems in other spaces of inequality. She finds that the union’s targeted member mobilization efforts in specific industries yields unequal participation in union activities among immigrant workers, fostering civic and leadership skills only among some. However, those who do become involved in the union draw on their organizing and advocacy skills to address problems at their children’s subpar schools. Most notable is that skills gleaned from labor union participation allows Latino immigrant workers to overcome barriers to civic participation stemming from their social and economic marginalization. The second

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INTRODUCTION

chapter in this section moves the examination of labor unions to an international context. Examples of international labor solidarity are difficult to find, but the South Korean case is an exception. In “Embedded Solidarity: International Migrant Labor Advocacy in South Korea,” Joon K. Kim finds that South Korea exhibits a high level of labor advocacy work concerned with the rights of immigrant workers that derives its effectiveness from embedded solidarity across a spectrum of civic and labor organizations that is rooted in an internationalist ideology. Part III examines how macrostructural contexts of reception affect the labor market integration of immigrants. Zulema Valdez, in “Intersectional Differences in Segmented Assimilation: Skill and Gender in the Context of Reception,” analyzes U.S. Census Data to examine hourly earnings, joblessness and self-employment participation outcomes of five ethnic minority groups from the immigrant to the native-born generation, compared against US-born, non-Hispanic whites. Her analysis is novel because she advocates for an intersectional approach to segmented assimilation, an analytical framework that accounts for varying adaptation pathways into the middle and underclasses. Valdez argues that segmented assimilation downplays group heterogeneity, overlooking how gender and class structure the labor market and ultimately, economic integration within ethnic groups. She finds that most ethnic groups demonstrate a pattern of mainstream assimilation, but there are important intergroup differences in joblessness and self-employment due to an hourglass economy and gendered labor market. Her research demonstrates the necessity of examining patterns of within group heterogeneity when assessing immigrants’ social and economic outcomes. In “Economic Progress, Stagnation, or Decline? Occupational Mobility of Non-EU Immigrants in Europe,” Sonia Pereira, Erik Snel, and Margrietha ‘t Hart combine survey data and in-depth interviews to examine how immigrants from Brazil, Morroco, and Ukraine economically incorporate into the United Kingdom, Portugal, Norway, and the Netherlands. By comparing last occupation in the origin country to first occupation in the destination country, and first occupation to current occupation in the origin country, they find that immigrants experience little occupational mobility following migration; however, longer-settled immigrants have greater chances of upward mobility. Reflecting themes of preceding chapters, they also find that legal status is a barrier to upward mobility and that patterns are gendered in that men are more upwardly mobile compared to women. The three chapters in Part IV highlight new theoretical and empirical directions in immigrant entrepreneurship, a classic topic of interest among

Introduction

xv

immigration scholars. However, these chapters move the literature forward by focusing on understudied and emerging segments of immigrant entrepreneurs. The first two chapters examine a new and growing category of immigrants: high-skilled transnational entrepreneurs. In “Transnational Entrepreneurship and Immigrant Integration: New Chinese Immigrants in Singapore and the United States,” Min Zhou and Hong Liu draw on a comparative analysis of Chinese communities in Singapore and the United States to demonstrate that ethnic enterprise is a central feature of the Chinese diaspora. They also show that China’s economic growth has opened up new opportunities for entrepreneurship in neighboring countries like Singapore that have enhanced the economic well-being of individuals while also creating new avenues for social capital linkages that develop communities. In all, they introduce an innovative analytical framework that shows how the integration of Chinese transnational entrepreneurs is shaped by different migration histories, state policies, macrostructural conditions in sending and receiving nations, and sustained connections with the homeland. In “Adaptation and Return among Israeli Enclave and Infotech Entrepreneurs,” Steven J. Gold compares high tech entrepreneurs with enclave entrepreneurs in the United States to examine their economic outcomes. He finds that the mostly male high tech entrepreneurs exhibit higher incomes, access to travel, and few barriers to setting up firms in host countries. Contrary to enclave entrepreneurs, Israeli high tech entrepreneurs do not depend on local co-ethnics for economic survival. However, this does not mean that co-ethnic communities have no effect on their lives. Local communities affect their identities and familial concerns and often form the basis of their decisions to remain in the host country or return to their country of origin. In a major contribution to the literature, Gold argues that researchers know little about the broader intentions of transnational entrepreneurs because observers concentrate only on the realm of work rather than looking at non-economic structures in which they are embedded, including families and communities in the host country and abroad. Finally, in “Franchising Ethnic Entrepreneurship: Immigrant Business Owners and an Alternative Economic Model,” Pawan Dhingra and Jennifer Parker utilize theories of ethnic enterprise to explain and examine the rise of franchised small businesses in quick service restaurants and hotels owned by Indian Americans. They argue that these businesses provide an alternative to standard models of ethnic enterprise that emphasize the important of an ethnic enclave for immigrant business success. Indian American franchisees own businesses in the mainstream economy but

xvi

INTRODUCTION

they continue to rely on ethnicity for success. They argue that ethnic capital is embedded in the structural transformation of franchising and remains necessary for “modern business models,” like franchises, which are believed to be hyper rational rather than based on kin and coethnic networks. The final two chapters of the volume in Part V emphasize two directions for future research by investigating how the native-born children of lowincome immigrants come to be concentrated in gendered occupational niches, and whether and to what extent long-settled natives erect boundaries with immigrant service workers who have come to dominate the lowend service sector. Glenda M. Flores and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, in “A New Gendered Occupational Niche: Latina Pathways into the Teaching Profession,” illuminate why college-educated Latinas are flocking to the teaching profession in the United States, an occupation in which white women once comprised a critical mass. Demographic data shows that Latinas have formed a new niche in the teaching profession, as it is now the number one career for highly educated Latinas who are entering the profession at greater rates than any other minority group. However, aggregate data cannot explain why educated Latinas are choosing to become teachers. Using in-depth interviews, Flores and Hondagneu-Sotelo examine the mechanisms that have propelled Latinas into the profession. They argue that race/ethnicity, gendered networks, and class background, specifically the unique experiences associated with growing up in low-income households with immigrant parents that leads to a collectively-informed agency, combined with larger racial demographic shifts that have made Latinos the majority of school-aged children in California, have propelled Latinas into teaching. Ultimately, this chapter is a window into the micro and macro level factors that shape social and economic mobility and entry into white-collar jobs for the children of low-income immigrants. In the final chapter of this volume, Elizabeth Miller, in “Bridging Boundaries of Difference: Intergroup Contact Between Immigrants and Natives in the Context of Work,” examines inter-ethnic relations and boundary making between immigrant service workers and wealthy whites in Tribeca, New York, an upper class neighborhood that is a microcosm of the servicebased economy that typifies today’s global cities. Tribecan residents and immigrant service workers experience boundaries of social class, race and ethnicity, religion, and occupation, which might lead many to think that these boundaries are impermeable and that relationships between these highly stratified groups are fleeting or rife with conflict. Miller finds that contact between Tribecan residents and immigrant service workers is

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overwhelmingly positive, leading to a boundary that is constantly being bridged via regular contact. However, boundaries are never contested and they are rarely crossed because of the nature of service interactions and the socioeconomic status differentials between these two groups. In an important contribution which demonstrates the power of race and class in immigrant integration, Miller finds that boundaries are less salient between Tribecans and white Western European immigrant service workers. Jody Agius Vallejo Editor

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I extend my gratitude to the authors for their timely and excellent scholarship and for their excitement about the volume. Thanks also to series editor Lisa Keister for her enthusiasm about the volume and to Cristina Irving Turner, Publisher at Emerald Group Publishing, and Sophie Barr and Kim Chadwick. I also thank the scholars who reviewed these submissions.

REFERENCES Farlie, R. (2012). Immigrant entrepreneurs and small business owners, and their access to financial capital. SBA Office of Advocacy. Retrieved from https://www.sba.gov/sites/ default/files/rs396tot.pdf Fernandez-Kelly, M. P. (1984). For we are sold, I and my people: Women and industry in Mexico’s frontier. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, SUNY. Kochhar, R. (2014). 10 projections for the global population in 2050. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/03/10projections-for-the-global-population-in-2050/ Light, I., & Bonacich, E. (1988). Immigrant entrepreneurs: Koreans in Los Angeles, 1965 1982. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Light, I., & Gold, S. J. (2000). Ethnic economies. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Massey, D., Durand, N., & Malone, J. (2003). Beyond smoke and mirrors: Mexican immigration in an era of economic integration. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. Partnership for a New American Economy. (2010). The New American Fortune 500. Passel, J., & Cohn, D. (2008). U.S. population projections: 2005 2050. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2008/02/11/uspopulation-projections-2005-2050/

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Portes, A., & Zhou, M. (1992). Gaining the upper hand: Economic mobility among immigrant and domestic minorities. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 15(4), 491 522. Sassen, S. (1988). The mobility of capital and labor: A study in international investment and labor flow. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. U.S. Bureau of Labor Force Statistics. (2014). Labor force characteristics of foreign-bon workers news release. Retrieved from http://data.bls.gov/cgibin/print.pl/news.release/ archives/forbrn_05222014.htm Waldinger, R., & Lichter, M. (2003). How the other half works: Immigration and the social organization of labor. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

PART I LEGAL STATUS AND LOW-WAGE LABOR MIGRANTS

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CENTRAL AMERICAN IMMIGRANT WORKERS: HOW LEGAL STATUS SHAPES THE LABOR MARKET EXPERIENCE Cecilia Menjı´ var ABSTRACT Purpose This chapter examines the lives of Central American immigrant workers, with a focus on the paramount position of legal status in immigrants’ lives. Findings The legal context into which Central American immigrant workers arrive creates the various legal statuses they hold, which in turn dictate the kind of jobs they can obtain, where they live and, in general, shape their prospects in the United States. Although many Central Americans have held various forms of temporary protection from deportation, such relief is temporary and therefore subject to multiple extensions, applications, forms, and renewals, which serve to accentuate these immigrants’ legal uncertainty. Given their legal predicament and the consequent truncated paths to mobility, many Central American immigrant workers live in poverty; indeed, they are more likely to live in poverty than other foreign born. At the same time, they have high labor force

Immigration and Work Research in the Sociology of Work, Volume 27, 3 28 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 0277-2833/doi:10.1108/S0277-283320150000027009

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CECILIA MENJI´VAR

participation rates. Their high rates of poverty coupled with high labor force participation rates indicate that their jobs do not pay much. In spite of these circumstances, they remit a significant portion of their earnings to their non-migrating family members in the origin countries. Practical implications The largely unchanged occupational and sectorial concentrations of Central Americans in the U.S. economy over the last two decades underscores the critical implications of legal status for immigrant incorporation and socioeconomic mobility. Originality/value This chapter exposes the vulnerabilities imposed by a precarious legal status and highlights the importance of more secure legal statuses for immigrant workers’ potential integration and paths to mobility. Keywords: Central American; immigrant workers; legal status; remittances; temporary legal status

Central Americans have been migrating to the United States for over 100 years, but the numbers, class and ethnic composition, and context of these flows have varied widely over this history. In the early 1900, Salvadoran and Nicaraguan coffee growers, originating in the upper social strata of their respective countries, traveled to and from the United States for business and pleasure. Hondurans also took part in these early flows through the commercial ships that transported bananas from Honduras to the United States. Potential migrants became acquainted with opportunities in the United States and then traveled north in the search of them. These early flows led to the creation of Central American communities that started out socially polarized, with a subgroup of wealthy individuals who came to study, work or do business on the one hand and, on the other, a number of domestic servants, gardeners, and laborers mostly working for the diplomatic corps (Gammage, 2007) and individuals who came to work in wartime industries during World War II (Menjı´ var, 2000). Although there has been a Central American (Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, Costa Ricans) presence in the United States since the nineteenth century, its numbers began to increase dramatically in the late 1970s, when political and economic crises destabilized several countries in the region and many of their citizens were forced to abandon their homes. A significant portion of this migration has been intra-regional (Mahler & Ugrina, 2006), as demonstrated by Salvadorans

Central American Immigrant Workers

5

and Nicaraguans migrating to Costa Rica (Basok, 1993) and Guatemalans to Mexico (Casillas, 2011; Garcı´ a, 2006), many of whom have since returned to their homeland (Stølen, 2004). Others have made their way further up north to the United States and Canada, where they have established vibrant communities.1 The Central American population in the United States is composed mostly of Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Salvadorans.2 Between 2000 and 2010 these immigrants constituted the fastest-growing Latino groups in the United States (Stoney & Batalova, 2013); between 2000 and 2009 the size of the Central American population more than doubled in 18 states, whereas in 2009 there were 2.9 million foreign-born Central Americans in the United States (with 4.6 individuals who self identify as Central Americans) (Terrazas, 2011) this number had climbed to nearly 3.1 in 2011; thus, this population has grown more than 60 times its size since 1960 (Stoney & Batalova, 2013). This chapter provides an overview of the main features of the lives of Central American immigrant women and men as workers, including their diversity of origins and current employment patterns as well as factors that have shaped their experiences, in particular the legal context where they have arrived and the immigration enforcement practices that have governed their lives. I argue that legal status, created by the immigration regime in place today, is paramount in the lives of Central American immigrant workers and dictates much of what they do and experience. However, while the U.S. legal regime pushes these immigrants to the margins and into increasingly vulnerable positions, at the same time they become central actors in the lives of their origin families, communities, and nations. They are often pressured to generate remittances, a situation that stems from weak economies, rampant post-conflict violence and crime, and cumulative crises in origin countries. Given these circumstances, the immigrants’ better opportunities in the United States position them in pivotal roles in sustaining their families and communities of origin and ultimately the economies of the sending countries. This pressure to generate incomes also stems from the increasingly larger debts that these immigrants incur in order to make the ever more costly trip north (McKenzie & Menjı´ var, 2011; Stoll, 2012; Woodhouse, 2013).3 These factors have combined to propel growing numbers of Central Americans to seek employment in the United States, to concentrate in certain U.S. sectors and occupations regardless of their human capital or experience and to settle in the United States for the purpose of generating much needed remittances.

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Legal status has been found to have a significant effect on immigrants’ earnings (Massey & Bartley, 2005); generally, it depresses undocumented immigrants’ wages (Massey & Gelatt, 2010). This research shows that new immigration policies, which provide few or no avenues for immigrants to legalize, place undocumented immigrants in positions where their skills are undervalued and their rights as workers are more easily violated (Bernhardt, Spiller, & Polson, 2013; Donato, Wakabayashi, Hakimzadeh, & Armenta, 2008). While human capital levels of Mexican immigrants have steadily increased (Hagan, Lowe, & Quingla, 2011), the rate at which their skills are rewarded has diminished with changes in immigration policies and the criminalization of immigrant workers (Massey & Gentsch, 2014). Whereas hiring undocumented workers in the past was not subject to penalties and thus led to little or no systematic discrimination on the basis of legal status, this is not the case today (Massey & Gelatt, 2010). With the introduction of penalties for employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers, an earnings gap between documented and undocumented immigrants began to open up (Donato & Massey, 1993; Donato et al., 2008). Greater discrimination against undocumented workers under this new immigration regime seems to be behind the wage penalty for immigrant workers in the U.S. labor market (Phillips & Massey, 1999). As such, immigrants in vulnerable legal statuses are subject to increased employment violations (Bernhardt et al., 2013; Donato et al., 2008), are overrepresented in positions that pay piece rate and hire for fewer hours (Pena, 2010) and find it more difficult to assert their rights or to bargain for better wages (Bernhardt et al., 2009; Menjı´ var, 2013). And even when formerly undocumented workers legalize or when immigrants hold temporary work permits (as in the case of many Central Americans), their labor rights deteriorate and they lose bargaining power because the labor markets in which they compete are dominated by undocumented immigrant workers with few or no rights (Gentsch & Massey, 2011).4 The majority of Central American workers in the United States arrived after IRCA of 1986 went into effect and thus have been subjected to this new regime. In addition, there have been immigration laws and enforcement practices that have affected all workers, such as the IIRIRA of 1996, as well as certain Central American-specific legal dispensations that frame the experiences of these immigrants as workers. Given the relevance of the context of exit for how the legality of these immigrants has been constructed, I start with an overview of this background. Next I summarize main pieces of legislation that impinge on the experiences of Central Americans that channel them to certain employment paths, and then move

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7

to discuss some of these immigrants’ main patterns of employment, noting important gender differences. In the last section, I focus on remittances because the wages of Central American immigrant women and men are regularly stretched out to sustain their families in origin countries, with the immigrant workers here serving as the main source of income for their families there. Remittances for these workers are part and parcel of life. I end with a brief discussion of how these immigrants live under the current legal regime and the effects on their families in the United States and in the origin countries.

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF EXIT Central American immigrants are highly heterogeneous, comprising groups that are socioculturally, ethnically, racially, and economically dissimilar. This heterogeneity includes well educated and unskilled immigrants, political refugees, wealthy landowners and peasants, as well as a variety of ethnic groups such as Garifuna (Black Caribs) from Belize and Honduras, and Maya groups from Guatemala (Rodrı´ guez & Hagan, 1999; Sua´rez-Orozco & Pa´ez, 2009), sometimes making it a challenge to define who does and does not fall under the umbrella category of Central Americans (Arias, 2003). Notwithstanding this diversity, in this chapter I do not disaggregate by subgroups or compare and contrast their experiences; instead, I focus on the important commonalities they share and highlight differences only when relevant. The context of exit within which the massive increase in U.S.-bound Central American migration took place has been shaped in one way or another by political crises that have roots deep in the history of the region (Hamilton & Stoltz Chinchilla, 2001; Menjı´ var, 2000). Foreign policy interests (Garcı´ a, 2006), exacerbated by national restructuring measures and neoliberal reform that widen inequality trends (Garni & Weyher, 2013) have combined with globalization forces more generally (Chinchilla, 2005) and with a proliferation of precarious employment (e.g., insecure, part-time at subminimum wage) in the post-conflict era (Jonas, 2013). A U.S.-backed civil war in El Salvador that lasted approximately 12 years, an armed conflict in Guatemala that lasted three times as long, and another one in Nicaragua that went on for almost a decade contributed to an exponential increase of this migration that multiplied several times the number of Central Americans in the United States (see Table 1). Although Honduras

CECILIA MENJI´VAR

8

Table 1. Central American Immigrants: Number and Share of U.S. Immigrant Population and of Latin American Immigrant Population in the United States (1960 2011). Year

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2011

All Immigrants

Immigrants from Latin America

9,738,091 9,619,302 14,079,906 19,767,316 31,107,889 39,916,875 40,377,800

908,300 1,804,000 4,372,500 8,407,800 16,087,000 21,224,100 21,245,300

Born in Central America Number

Percent of all immigrants

Percent of all Latin American immigrants

48,900 113,900 353,900 1,134,000 2,026,200 3,052,500 3,085,400

0.5 1.2 2.5 5.7 6.5 7.6 7.6

5.4 6.3 8.1 13.5 12.6 14.4 14.5

Source: Stoney and Batalova (2013) (U.S. Census Bureau, 1960 2000 Decennial Censuses, 2010 and 2011 American Community Surveys (ACS)). Available online.

did not experience direct conflict, it was surrounded by three countries that did, was used by the United States as a military base for counterinsurgency operations in the region and, thus, it suffered profound economic and political dislocations as well. The political conflicts in the region ended in the mid-1990s but this has not meant an end to the migration flows.5 Levels of “common” crime have soared in these post-conflict societies and insecurity and violence in the region are widespread (Menjı´ var, 2011). In addition to weakened economies, post-conflict violence and damaged infrastructure, neoliberal programs and the privatization of services in post-conflict Central America (Arias Pen˜ate, 2010; Binford, 2010) have impacted economic production, markets and workers, such as agricultural workers’ engagement in risky enterprises geared to satisfy global demands (Fischer & Benson, 2006). Additionally, deficient tax systems, weak government institutions, especially those related to public security, and widespread corruption within legislatures in Central America that have made the region a prime corridor for drug cartel operations have contributed to a surge in violent crime and a sense of lawlessness (Espach & Haering, 2012). These conditions, which translate into financial hardship, lack of opportunities, and a life of poverty (Schmalzbauer, 2005) have contributed to sustain the high rates of these migratory flows to the United States (Menjı´ var, 2006). A recent example of the cumulative effects of these conditions for migration from the region is the arrival of over 50,000 unaccompanied minors from the “Northern

Central American Immigrant Workers

9

Triangle” of Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras) to the United States in the summer of 2014. It is worth noting that circumstances associated with the political crises, violence, and neoliberal reforms in Central America have combined to shape immigrants’ decision to leave their countries, but these alone have not influenced their eventual arrival in the United States. A major impetus for why so many of these immigrants have crossed several international borders to reach their U.S. destinations has to do with the social ties these immigrants have established in the United States, which have been forged over a long history of migration as well as significant U.S. political, military, economic, and cultural influence in Central America. Families and friends already in the United States have provided the conduit through which immigrants have arrived to the places where they have settled (Menjı´ var, 2000).

LEGAL CONTEXT OF RECEPTION A central feature of Central American migration to the United States is how it has been reconfigured by the U.S. government over the last three decades, strategies that expose the intertwined nature of political and economic factors in shaping this migration and the legal vulnerability that such strategies have created for Central American immigrants. The migration of thousands during the Central American civil wars, many of them fleeing direct political violence, was recast as “economic” migration, as the U.S. government refused to recognize these immigrants’ claims for political asylum given that these conflicts were largely proxy wars during the Cold War years. Given foreign policy interests, the United States could not recognize as refugees the migratory flows created by the conflicts it was directly instigating and supporting. In practice, many of these migrants were fleeing the economic devastation of years of political unrest, making it difficult to differentiate between economic and political motivations for migrating (Menjı´ var, 1993). However, the U.S. refusal to recognize these immigrants as refugees and the consequent re-categorization of these immigrants as “undocumented” has continued to outline the central features of this migration through the proliferation of various legal statuses that these immigrants hold today. It is telling that in pioneering research on Central American migration to the United States (Rodriguez, 1987, 1995) there was already attention to these immigrants’ legal status and, almost three decades later, this concern persists in studies of Central

10

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Americans in the United States. Thus, a significant literature on Central American immigration examines how legal status and immigration enforcement practices affect these immigrants’ lives, including the well-being and expectations of family members (“here and there”) (Abrego, 2009, 2014); the effects of increasing deportations on these families (Blanchard et al., 2011; Phillips, Hagan, & Rodriguez, 2006); and how deportations in turn have reconfigured Central American families and influenced return migration (Hagan, Eschbach, & Rodriguez, 2008). For approximately three decades, during which rates of Central American migration have multiplied, these immigrants have found very few avenues for legalization. Throughout the 1980s fewer than 3 percent of Central American applicants were granted political asylum. Immigrants’ rights groups lobbied on the Guatemalans’ and Salvadorans’ behalf, and eventually Congress granted temporary protection from deportation to all Salvadorans who arrived prior to September 19, 1990. This humanitarian dispensation, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), granted these immigrants a stay of deportation and, importantly, a work permit for a period of 18 months. TPS is temporary and it is issued to groups that fail to meet the threshold required for political asylum but who are believed to need some form of protection. Given the intractable nature of the Salvadoran conflict, this provision was extended once, was transformed into Deferred Enforced Departure, and finally expired in 1995. Salvadorans, Nicaraguans and Hondurans who were victims of natural disasters in Central American were once again granted Temporary Protected Status. After Hurricane Mitch devastated large swaths of Honduras and Nicaragua in 1998 and El Salvador suffered two earthquakes in early 2001 these countries were designated for TPS. Hondurans and Nicaraguans arriving after January 5, 1999 and Salvadorans arriving after March 9, 2001 were eligible to apply for TPS. TPS is renewable every 18 months, and at this writing it expires on March 9, 2015 for Salvadorans and on January 5, 2015 for Hondurans and Nicaraguans. However, in spite of a bloody 36-year old civil war and several natural disasters, Guatemala has never been designated for TPS.6 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates indicate that there are 229,000 Salvadorans, 70,000 Hondurans, and 3,500 Nicaraguans residing in the country under TPS (Terrazas, 2011). Importantly, although technically documented or legally present, TPS holders are part of the undocumented population because they lack permanent legal status. There have been certain paths to legalization for Central Americans, but mirroring TPS, they tend to be narrow, selective, and conducive to years in legal limbo or “liminal legality” (Menjı´ var, 2006). For instance, in 1990, as

Central American Immigrant Workers

11

a result of a settlement of a class action suit (American Baptist Churches vs. Thornburgh [ABC] legislation) that alleged discrimination against Guatemalans and Salvadorans on the part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, these immigrants were allowed to resubmit asylum applications. This legislation helped to raise the success rate of Salvadoran and Guatemalan asylum applications in fiscal year 1992 to about 30 percent (National Asylum Study Project, 1992). One piece of legislation that opened an opportunity for permanent residence to Central Americans was the 1997 Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA). Designed for Nicaraguans, it also included Cubans and nationals of former Soviet-bloc countries, as well as Salvadorans and Guatemalans. Salvadorans who entered the country before September 19, 1990 and Guatemalans who entered on or before October 1, 1990, and registered under the ABC settlement, or who had filed an asylum application before April 1, 1990, could be granted a “cancellation of removal” (cancellation of deportation) (Menjı´ var, 2000). This is a special discretionary relief, which, if granted, permits an individual who is subject to deportation or removal to remain in the United States. Salvadorans or Guatemalans who were already placed in deportation procedures, and were therefore required to appear before an immigration judge, could request a cancellation of removal. If an individual was granted cancellation of removal, his or her immigration status would then be readjusted to that of a permanent resident. Immigrant rights groups lobbied so that the benefits that NACARA conferred to Nicaraguans and to other nationals included in this act adjustment to permanent residence without a hearing on a case-by-case basis would also be extended to Salvadorans and Guatemalans. However, Congress consistently denied such benefit. This meant that the application process for NACARA for these immigrants was quite long, as many have ended up in backlogs with cases taking years to be adjudicated. However, during the time applications were being reviewed, applicants were extended renewable work permits. Nicaraguans were the intended beneficiaries of NACARA. Unlike Salvadorans or Guatemalans, they were not required to appear before an immigration judge in order to be granted the benefit. Nicaraguans who could prove that they had continuously resided in the United States since December 1, 1995 could be considered for adjustment of status to permanent residency. NACARA, signed into law in November 1997, gave Nicaraguans until March 31, 2000 to submit their applications. Nicaraguan asylum seekers during the 1980s were given an ambivalent reception; in the

12

CECILIA MENJI´VAR

aggregate, during this decade about one-quarter of the Nicaraguan applicants were successful (National Asylum Study Project, 1992). The long and convoluted legal context for Central Americans has had a cumulative effect as more people continue to migrate but this context has not changed much over the decades; if anything, it has become more hostile. Most importantly, the various dispensations that the U.S. government has extended to Central Americans (e.g., TPS, NACARA) contribute instability and uncertainty, as work permits are temporary and must be renewed and no one knows for sure if TPS will be renewed one more time (even as Hondurans and Nicaraguans have had TPS for 15 years) or if applications will be successful. This has translated into a population with high rates of undocumented immigrants living perennially in legal limbo, with some being able to work legally but holding either temporary permits or waiting in the long backlogs for their applications to be adjudicated (Menjı´ var, 2006). Indeed, a hallmark of the Central American immigrants’ experience in the United States has been legal instability by design. Furthermore, whereas some Central Americans immigrants have received relief from deportation or even secured legal permanent residence through the dispensations available to them, their lives are still governed by the generally restrictive immigration regime in place today. In particular the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) has enabled the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Central American immigrants by reducing the threshold for crimes and offenses that may be considered grounds for deportation, by making possible the deportation of legal permanent residents, and by creating programs of cooperation between the federal and state governments that facilitate the detection, detention, and deportation of thousands of these immigrants. IIRIRA seems to have had particular impact on Central American immigrants. For instance, since IIRIRA went into effect, between 1997 and 2005, 54,250 Guatemalans and 42,862 Salvadorans have been deported (Menjı´ var & Abrego, 2012). While the magnitude of these figures might not be cause for alarm, they point to a worrisome trend: whereas in 1998 Guatemalans and Salvadorans (together with Hondurans) accounted for approximately 9 percent of total deportations, they made up 17 percent in 2005 and 21 in 2008 (in Menjı´ var & Abrego, 2012), and today the three Central American countries rank at the top, after Mexico, in the number of deportations annually. Thus, even though these three groups make up a small portion of the foreign-born population,7 they are overrepresented in the detained and deportee population due to their legal vulnerability. For

Central American Immigrant Workers

13

instance, 77 percent of the 491,000 Hondurans in the country in 2011 lacked legal status, meaning they are also deeply affected by deportations, which surpassed 32,000 for Hondurans by the end of 2012 (Reichman, 2013). Thus, researchers (Blanchard et al., 2011) note that more Hondurans have been deported by the U.S. government since 1980 than any other Central American group. As these data make clear, Central Americans are disproportionately affected by the current immigration regime and their legal statuses are uncertain, a vulnerability that increases as more immigrants come in. Whereas in 2009 one out of every ten undocumented immigrants was Central American (Terrazas, 2011), in 2011 these immigrants constituted a full 14 percent of all unauthorized immigrants (Stoney & Batalova, 2013).8 This means that the overwhelming majority of the nearly 1 million Central Americans who entered the country between 2009 and 2011 were, and remain, undocumented immigrants, which contributes to their overrepresentation in detentions and deportations (Menjı´ var & Kanstroom, 2014). The disproportionate number of Central Americans among detainees and deportees every year, coupled with their legal insecurity (Menjı´ var, 2006) points to their vulnerability even when they presumably possess a certain measure of protection (e.g., TPS) at the federal level.

WORK AND LABOR FORCE INCORPORATION Central Americans have more working-age individuals than either the native population or other foreign-born groups: in 2011, 90 percent of these immigrants were of working age (Stoney & Batalova, 2013). In general, their educational level is low: whereas only 9 percent of Central American adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher, 59 percent of Guatemalans, 55 percent of Hondurans, and 52 percent of Salvadorans lack a high school or GED diploma (Stoney & Batalova, 2013). And about two thirds of Central Americans are Limited English Proficient (or LEP), with important variations by country: 74 percent of Guatemalans, 72 of Salvadorans, 69 of Hondurans, and 55 of Nicaraguans are reported to be LEP (Stoney & Batalova, 2013). Central American immigrants have high rates of employment: 67.7 percent for Hondurans, 69.9 for Guatemalans, 70.1 for Salvadorans, and 65 for Nicaraguans (compared to 56.6 percent in the native population) (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 2012), and they are likely to be concentrated in few

CECILIA MENJI´VAR

14

occupations and industries. Stoney and Batalova (2013) found that 38 percent of Central American immigrant men worked in construction, extraction, and transportation, while 45 percent of women worked in service and personal care occupations (see Table 2). Per capita income for Guatemalans is calculated at $17,782, $18,195 for Honduras, $20,577 for Salvadorans, and $23,743 for Nicaraguans ($27,166 for natives) (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 2012). There are some variations worth noting in these patterns. Central Americans with relatively higher levels of education and English language skills (Costa Ricans and to a lesser degree Nicaraguans) tend to concentrate in technical and administrative support occupations, whereas those with lower educational levels and lower English language proficiency (Guatemalans, Salvadorans, and Hondurans) are more likely to work in service occupations and in manufacturing, as operators and laborers. Skilled Central American men can find white-collar jobs, whereas those Table 2. Occupations of Employed Civilian Workers (Ages 16 64) by Gender and Origin (2011).

Number of person ages 16 64 employed in the civilian labor force (000s) Total (percent) Management, business, finance Information technology Other sciences and engineering Social services and legal Education, training, media, and entertainment Physicians, surgeons, dentists Registered nurses Other health care practitioners Healthcare support Service and personal care Sales Administrative support Farming, fishing, forestry Construction, extraction, transportation Manufacturing, installation, repair

Central American Born

Foreign Born (Total)

Male

Male

1,201

4.5 0.5 0.7 0.5 1.3 0.2 0.1 0.4 0.2 25.6 5.2 4.6 2.2 37.8 16.2

Female 758

5.7 0.4 0.3 1.5 4.1 0.1 0.8 1.5 4.2 44.6 9.3 11.7 0.7 5.1 10

12,911

10.5 4.6 3.8 1 3.6 1.2 0.5 1.2 0.1 19.1 7.7 5.4 2.9 23.6 14.2

Female 9,584

10.6 2.2 2 2 7.2 1 3.7 3.2 5.9 26.8 10 13.4 1.2 3.1 7.6

Source: Reproduced from Stoney and Batalova (2013) (Authors’ analysis of U.S. Census Bureau 2011 ACS data).

Central American Immigrant Workers

15

with lower educational levels and limited English language skills work in construction, landscaping, restaurants and hotels, and janitorial services. Central American women with higher levels of education and English language skills often hold jobs in clerical and administrative jobs, whereas those with lower educational and English language levels work as housekeepers, babysitters, hotel chambermaids, or janitors. However, these are not always clear-cut distinctions. Noteworthy, the legal status of many Central American women and men has affected greatly their options in the labor force; even those with higher educational levels (some even college graduates), English language proficiency, and extensive work experience are found in positions that require few formal skills when they are undocumented (Menjı´ var, 2000). For instance, since I started doing fieldwork among Central American immigrants in the United States, I have come across many cases of former mathematics teachers working as clerks in small stores, college graduates cleaning offices at night, and former medical students washing dishes in neighborhood restaurants because they lack legal status (Menjı´ var, 2000). Some Central Americans have opened businesses that cater mostly to compatriots and other Latino clientele, and there is a growing proportion who are self-employed, many of whom are street vendors (Chinchilla, Hamilton, & Loucky, 1993). The street vendors in Los Angeles (mainly Central Americans) formed the Association of Street Vendors to lobby for the legalization of street vending in that city (Chinchilla et al., 1993). However, self-employment alone, as the case of street vendors shows, is not an indication of jobs that can provide mobility or socioeconomic success; indeed, self-employment has been used as an indicator of informality (Bohn & Lofstrom, 2012), which in an era of stronger enforcement can be an indication of precariousness. The jobs that Central American immigrants find do not depend solely on their individual characteristics or human capital levels, but also on the jobs that are available at the time they arrive in the United States and in the places of their destination. During economic downturns, for instance, jobs albeit low-paid and insecure in the usual occupations and industries where Central Americans concentrate are scarce and therefore these immigrants resort to whatever other work may be available. Thus, many undocumented as well as documented Guatemalan and Salvadoran men who are unable to find work in the usual niches often resort to day labor, congregating in street corners waiting for a potential employer to hire them (Hamilton & Stoltz Chinchilla, 1996; Menjı´ var, 2000). As the economy contracts, many Central American workers (women and men) are pushed into

16

CECILIA MENJI´VAR

informal jobs, selling products and services out of their homes (Chinchilla et al., 1993) or in the streets of the cities in which they concentrate. But then these niches remain, even as the economy recovers. This is one reason why many Central American workers have become self-employed in work that is precarious and unstable. Job opportunities also vary by location. Central Americans used to be highly concentrated in California, where almost half of Guatemalans and Salvadorans lived. However, as the Latino population expanded to other states, so did Central Americans. And even though they now live in all states, they have retained a presence in California, where 28 percent live, with other notable concentrations in Texas (12 percent), New York/New Jersey (12 percent), Florida (11 percent), and Virginia/Maryland (10 percent).9 Each of these locations presents special configurations in the labor market opportunities for Central Americans. For instance, Repak (1995) found that jobs in construction were plentiful in Washington, DC for Central American men mostly Salvadorans and wages in this sector in Washington also were higher than in comparable jobs elsewhere, such as in Los Angeles. Some destinations that attracted Central Americans in the past have resumed their place as a destination of choice for these immigrants because new labor market opportunities have opened up. For instance, New Orleans attracted Honduran immigrants at the beginning of the twentieth century when commercial ships that transported bananas from Honduras to the United States introduced them to opportunities in the north and a migration flow to New Orleans started. But when reconstruction in postKatrina New Orleans needed workers precisely in those sectors in which Central Americans (along with Mexicans) are concentrated,10 these immigrants filled the need quickly (Fussell, 2007). Today, Central Americans make up 35 percent of this city’s immigrant population (Stoney & Batalova, 2013), comprising Fussell (2007) notes, the rapid-response labor force that New Orleans needed for its reconstruction. As well, with the construction boom in the Phoenix metropolitan area, Guatemalans and Salvadorans have filled the need, particularly for roofers, even when there are far more Mexican immigrants in this area. Roofing ranks in the lowest rungs of the construction industry ladder, and as more established Mexicans, with more mature and wider networks, move up and out Central Americans have taken the more dangerous and lower paying positions (Gonza´lez, 2005), like roofing (Olbina, Hinze, & Ruben, 2011). These immigrants’ gender influences in important ways their labor force participation as well. The jobs in which Central American women tend to

Central American Immigrant Workers

17

concentrate, such as baby-sitting and housecleaning, tend to be available, even during recessionary times. However, in spite of the relative ease with which these immigrant women find jobs (a situation observed in different settings, from San Francisco to Los Angeles to New Jersey), when women and men both work, in general men earn more than the women do (Menjı´ var, 1999). Women are likely to work in jobs away from the public eye, which makes it easier for employers to hire them under informal terms. For these reasons women (even when undocumented) often are able to find jobs more easily than men (Menjı´ var, 1999); thus, in Los Angeles Salvadorans and Guatemalan women seemed to have taken over the housekeeping niche since the early 1990s (Lopez, Popkin, & Telles, 1996). At that time, Salvadoran women in Los Angeles were 12 times more likely than the general population to work as private servants, as cleaners, and childcare workers; for Mexican women this factor was only 2.3 (Lopez et al., 1996). Almost two decades later, Central American women continue to be concentrated in these jobs, with 45 percent reported working in service and personal care occupations in 2011 (Stoney & Batalova, 2013). Men appear to be even more concentrated occupationally than women, with 80 percent of Central American men working in construction, extraction, transportation, service and personal care, manufacturing, installation, and repair (Stoney & Batalova, 2013), concentrations that have not changed much in close to two decades. Thus, even though Central American workers seem to find jobs relatively easily, as a group they have not experienced much occupational mobility over time. A key factor that facilitates these immigrants’ concentration in certain occupations besides the effects of human capital, English language skills, and legal status is their social networks, composed of family members, neighbors, coreligionists, friends, and friends of friends who put a job within reach. Of course, this is nothing new or exclusive to Central American workers, but in their case these informal ties can sometimes make up for the lack of other resources. These informal connections often link immigrants to jobs in the same niches, without much variety of occupation or heterogeneity of sector, an aspect of these social ties that can be immensely beneficial to some but can lead to stagnation for others. Thus, a Guatemalan woman I interviewed in Los Angeles had been able to locate baby-sitting jobs relatively easily almost since she arrived, had continue to work non-stop through the recession of the early 1990s (even as her husband struggled to find day work) (Menjı´ var, 1999) and had benefitted significantly as a result. Similarly, a former

18

CECILIA MENJI´VAR

Salvadoran medical student with years of work experience in medicine I interviewed in San Francisco, also had obtained jobs as a dishwasher through his friends and friends of friends, but had remained stagnant in those positions (Menjı´ var, 2000). Both were undocumented but had different levels of education; she had a first grade education and he was one year away from finishing medical school. Yet both had ended up in similarly low-paid jobs. Legal status prevented him from obtaining a job commensurate with his education, and their informal contacts had led both to find jobs in the niches where Central American women and men tend to concentrate. In some instances, these coethnic networks, which often differ depending on class status in the home country, have been particularly effective in putting jobs within reach of migrants even before they arrive in the United States. Again, this is not unheard of among other immigrants, but for Central Americans these employment-related networks have taken complex forms across borders. For instance, Sandoval (2013) details an intricate network through which employers in Postville, Iowa recruited undocumented workers from El Rosario, Guatemala, providing not only jobs upon arrival for the migrants, but also housing, access to smuggling networks and even the loans that the migrants needed to finance their trips north, thus providing employment opportunities and also creating a super exploitative situation for these workers. In another network that put jobs within potential migrants’ reach, Guatemalan men would migrate with tourist visas to the United States to work for nine months of the year and would send back their passports to be stamped as if they had re-entered Guatemala within the allotted visa time, and then would obtain another tourist visa to return to the United States three months later (Menjı´ var, 2011). These men, however, came from a very different social class background from the men in El Rosario. These other men were originally landowners whose purchasing power had declined when the price of their crops dropped and, thus, did not need loans or access to smuggling rings to make the trip. Their higher class status placed them in different networks providing good connections in key places so they traveled with tourist visas to earn the wages that allowed their families to continue to maintain a certain standard of living in Guatemala (Menjı´ var, 2011). Thus, the social networks that facilitate migration in general were also key resources for these Guatemalan men as well, though given the dissimilar social class position of the network members involved, the mechanisms employed and the benefits that accrued to individuals were different.

Central American Immigrant Workers

19

REMITTANCES BY CENTRAL AMERICAN IMMIGRANT WORKERS Remittances represent a sizable portion of the gross domestic product of the major Central American sending countries: 28 percent in Honduras; 17 in El Salvador; 12 in Nicaragua, and 9 in Guatemala (Orozco, 2007). Out of approximately 12 billion that Central American countries received in remittances in 2011, Guatemala received the largest amount, followed by Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, with El Salvador receiving the largest amount per capita (Sørensen, 2014). As such, Central Americans rank among the highest remitter groups in the United States, who, controlling for other factors, are more likely to remit than Mexicans (Hagan et al., 2008). Immigrants’ remittances have helped to sustain the economies of the sending countries during the extended periods of conflict and post-conflict crises, serving to avert even worse poverty rates in the Central American region. For instance, El Salvador has the second highest volume of remittances in the hemisphere after Mexico (even though the number of Salvadoran migrants is only a fraction of that of Mexicans); in 2006 remittances accounted for close to 17 percent of El Salvador’s GDP and about 22 percent of all households reported receiving remittances in 2004 (Gammage, 2007). And according to the Salvadoran Central Reserve Bank remittances did not decline significantly during the Great Recession. They quickly rebounded and had even increased 4.4 percent by 2010 (Remesas de Salvadoren˜os, 2011). Thus, remittances in Central America have served to offset declining exports, lift households out of poverty, and inject cash into poor communities (Gammage, 2007), in many cases creating new social class divisions between those who receive and those who do not receive remittances (Schmalzbauer, 2008). As such, remittances have come to represent a major pillar of the Central American economies, and the overwhelming majority of these remittances are generated by Central American immigrants in the United States. The remittance behavior of Central Americans, particularly of Salvadorans, has been widely documented, as these remittances have often surpassed national exports as sources of foreign exchange. Family separations resulting from the U.S. immigration system in place today that places overwhelming obstacles for immigrants to bring their families has had a major influence on remittance behavior (Abrego, 2014), as immigrants with immediate family members in the United States are much less likely to

20

CECILIA MENJI´VAR

remit than those who have their close family members in the origin countries (DeSipio, 2000; Menjı´ var, DaVanzo, Greenwell, & Valdez, 1998). Research also has found that contrary to the case of other immigrant groups among whom the likelihood to remit declines with time of residence in the United States, Central Americans continue to send remittances long after they establish their own families in the United States (Hagan et al., 2008), perhaps due to the pressure to remit that Central American immigrant workers face from their family members back home. Indeed, most of the remittances that Central American immigrants send, calculated at approximately $200 monthly,11 are used for subsistence needs and everyday expenses (e.g., food, clothing, etc.) (Abrego, 2014; Hagan et al., 2008), meaning that the families who receive them are likely living in poverty and relying on these funds. With higher risks involved in migrating from Central America to the United States by land, including crossing several international borders and paying bribes along the way, harrowing experiences in Mexico and increasing obstacles to cross the heavily militarized Mexico U.S. border, these trips are much more expensive now, costing approximately $7,000 from Honduras or El Salvador. The overwhelming majority of Central Americans who migrate in search of employment opportunities in the United States do not have these funds or at least not in liquid form; therefore, those who own a piece of land or a house often use them as collateral to borrow large sums from lenders who now specialize in this business (Sladkova, 2013; Stoll, 2012). Thus, the immigrants must remit not only to sustain their families but also to repay these debts so that their families do not end up even poorer and more destitute should they lose the collateral on those loans (McKenzie & Menjı´ var, 2011). Some important gender angles emerge when examining remittance patterns of goods and money to Central America. For instance, sending remittances in the form of goods, such as clothing, shoes, and small household items, is a type of transnational work in which Central American immigrant women, particularly Salvadorans, actively participate. Garni (2014) observes that at least 17 percent of these remittances to El Salvador are delivered by the approximately 3,500 Salvadoran couriers who travel back-and-forth to transport the thousands of pounds of merchandise, and about one-third of them are women. Another pattern involves transfers of money. In contrast to remittance trends among other immigrant groups, Abrego (2009) found that despite structural barriers that block their economic success in the United States, Salvadoran women remit more than their male counterparts and their remittances do not taper off with time in the United States. For

Central American Immigrant Workers

21

Central Americans, the demands for the gendered employment they find in the United States (e.g., babysitting, caring for the elderly, and housekeeping) create transnational motherhood arrangements (Hondagneu-Sotelo & Avila, 1997). These women come to work in the United States in order to provide for their non-migrant children’s left in the care of (female) relatives basic necessities and often to ensure their education, something these mothers could not do with the declining wages they would earn in their home country. In the process, they sacrifice years of their lives separated from their children, toiling in housecleaning jobs or caring for other people’s children, so that their own children can have a better future (Abrego, 2014; HondagneuSotelo & Avila, 1997). Therefore, it can be argued that a significant portion of the economic success of the non-migrant families in the origin countries rests on the shoulders of Central American immigrant women. In sum, Central American immigrant women and men face multiple pressures to remit. And though physically absent from their families, through their U.S. work they play a critical role in their families, communities, and sending country economies. Their remittances have profoundly shaped all aspects of life in origin countries beyond subsistence and daily survival, from shaping fertility patterns (Davis, 2011), altering family organization, and reconfiguring family relations (Menjı´ var & Abrego, 2009) to transforming gender relations and even land purchases and transactions (Taylor, MoranTaylor, & Ruiz, 2006).

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION Central American immigrant workers face an increasingly hostile U.S. legal context of reception that marginalizes them or excludes them altogether, with few if any avenues to gain permanent legal status. This context creates the various legal statuses they hold, which in turn dictate the kind of jobs they obtain, where they live and, in general, shape their prospects in the United States. Although many have received temporary protection from deportation, such relief is temporary and the multiple extensions, applications, forms, and renewals only accentuate these immigrants’ legal uncertainty. Others have been able to take advantage of special dispensations that are meant to make up for the years in which Central Americans fleeing from wars were denied asylum protection. Central Americans defy images of the documented-undocumented dichotomy, as they hold a wide range of legal statuses, often in-between, indefinite, and uncertain.

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Central American immigrants submit applications for NACARA or TPS to an overburdened system with long backlogs and thus they must wait years (and sometimes decades) for their cases to be approved. The result is that Central American immigrants show some of the highest rates of legal instability relative to the size of the group and, as a result, they have the highest rates of detention and deportation (second only to Mexicans, a group four times as large as all Central Americans combined). Perhaps the high rates of sustained remittances, characteristic of Central Americans, is linked to this legal ambivalence, as many of them live lives oriented to their home countries, in case they are deported or lose the temporary protection they have. Given their predicament, it is no surprise that Central American immigrants are more likely to live in poverty than other foreign born. As a whole, 23 percent live in poverty, with variations among the different Central American groups (Stoney & Batalova, 2013); one-third of Hondurans live in poverty (Reichman, 2013). But even with incomes at poverty levels or below, these immigrants remit regularly and comparable amounts to other groups and longer than other immigrants. They live with multiple pressures to remit because their non-migrant families in origin countries have few to no opportunities to earn decent wages and there are debts to repay. Furthermore, their high rates of poverty coupled with high labor force participation rates indicate that their jobs do not pay much and likely these jobs are insecure and prone to workers’ rights violations.12 And although Central Americans, even the undocumented, have organized and fought for their rights as workers and as immigrants, the fact remains that a sizable portion of them work under less than optimal conditions working a lot and earning little while their rights are not protected. These workers end up between a rock and a hard place in the transnational spaces in which they have been thrust for reasons not entirely of their own choosing. Importantly, the legal instability in which many Central Americans have lingered for decades can have effects for their futures and their children’s, both in the United States and in the origin countries. Research has found (Bean, Brown, Leach, Bachmeier, & Hipp, 2011) that undocumented entry and lengthy periods of time in uncertain legality (such as TPS) have serious implications for immigrant incorporation and socioeconomic mobility, as evinced in the largely unchanged occupational and sectorial concentrations of Central Americans in the U.S. economy over the last two decades. And such disadvantages accumulate over generations as they are transmitted in various ways to children (Bean, Brown, Leach, Bachmeier, & Van Hook, 2013). At the same time, as workers, these immigrants do not enjoy social

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protections in the United States or in their origin countries; prospects for retirement or old age social protections are far from certain, both here and there. Thus, while Central Americans are actively contributing a new and dynamic facet to the U.S. Latina and Latino mosaic, complete with new family forms, community alliances, relations with institutions, languages and forms of cultural expression that enrich the Latino and Latina experience in the United States, they also remain vulnerable and their lives remind us most forcefully of the pressing need for an overhaul of the nation’s immigration system. The conditions in which Central Americans have lived, dictated by their liminally legal lives, sound a cautionary note for immigration reform to avoid extending temporary relief and instead to focus on creating permanent statuses with real paths for integration.

NOTES 1. Blanchard, Hamilton, Rodriguez, and Yoshioka (2011) calculated emigration ratios (e.g., number of immigrants counted in the United States for each 1,000 individuals in the population in the country of origin) as follows: Guatemala (56.9), Honduras (62.7), El Salvador (186.6), and Nicaragua (44.1). 2. In 2011 Salvadorans made up 41 percent, Guatemalans 28 percent, and Hondurans 16 percent of the Central American population in the United States (Stoney & Batalova, 2013). 3. Some have argued that these debts are the driving force behind the remigration of deported Central Americans, as moneylenders (who charge astronomical interest rates on these loans) believe that the migrants make lots of money in the United States and thus are more likely to pay instead of risking the family’s resources back home, which often serve as collateral for the loans (McKenzie & Menjı´ var, 2011; Stoll, 2012; Woodhouse, 2013). 4. Gonza´lez (2008) reported that Maya Guatemalan immigrants in Phoenix are particularly vulnerable to crime at the hands of other immigrants because many do not speak English (or Spanish), and they lose more if they are deported (e.g., their debts to migrate are high) and thus are more afraid to report crimes to the police. 5. Whereas Mexican migration has decreased to a “net zero” in the past several years and there are now fewer Mexicans entering the United States without inspection, the number of Central Americans has increased. Accordingly, the rise in the size of the undocumented population in the United States from the estimated 11.4 in 2010 to 11.7 million in 2012 seems to be due to the growth in Central American migration, the fastest growing group of Latino immigrants in the country (Passel, Cohn, & Gonzalez-Barrera, 2013). 6. Other countries currently designated for TPS include: Haiti, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Syria. 7. Although Latinos make up 77 percent of the undocumented population, they constitute 93 percent of arrests through the Secure Communities program (Kohli, Markowitz, & Chavez, 2011).

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8. Whereas Central Americans make up 8 percent of the immigrant population, they constitute 14 percent of the unauthorized population. 9. Even though 10 percent of Central Americans in the United States live in the greater Washington DC area, they comprise 21 percent of the immigrant population in that region (Stoney & Batalova, 2013), making them the majority of Latino groups there. 10. According to Fussell (2007), 21 percent of the U.S. construction labor force is made up of Central Americans and Mexicans. 11. Suro (2005) notes that average monthly remittances for Latin America range between $200 and $300. Central Americans’ remittances at $200 fall at the lower end for Latin America. 12. A survey conducted in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago found that Latino immigrant workers have the most minimum wage violation rates of any racial or ethnic group (Bernhardt et al., 2009).

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Menjı´ var, C. (2013). Central American immigrant workers and legal violence in phoenix, Arizona. Latino Studies, 11(2), 228 252. Menjı´ var, C., & Abrego, L. (2009). Parents and children across borders: Legal instability and intergenerational relations in Guatemalan and Salvadoran families. In N. Foner (Ed.), Across generations: Immigrant families in America (pp. 160 189). New York, NY: New York University Press. Menjı´ var, C., & Abrego, L. (2012). Legal violence: Immigration law and the lives of central American immigrants. American Journal of Sociology, 117(5), 1380 1421. Menjı´ var, C., DaVanzo, J., Greenwell, L., & Valdez, R. B. (1998). Remittance behavior of Filipino and Salvadoran immigrants in Los Angeles. International Migration Review, 32(1), 99 128. Menjı´ var, C., & Kanstroom, D. (Eds.). (2014). Constructing immigrant “illegality”: Critiques, experiences, and responses. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. National Asylum Study Project. (1992). An interim assessment of the Asylum process of the immigration and naturalization service. Washington, DC: Immigration and Refugee Program, Legal Profession; Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law School, Harvard University. Olbina, S., Hinze, J., & Ruben, M. (2011). Safety in roofing: Practices of contractors that employ Hispanic workers. Professional Safety Journal, 56(4), 44 52. Orozco, M. (2007). Central America: Remittances and the macroeconomic variable. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank. Passel, J. S., Cohn, D., & Gonzalez-Barrera, A. (2013). Population decline of unauthorized immigrants stalls, may have reversed. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2013/09/23/population-decline-ofunauthorized-immigrants-stalls-may-have-reversed/. Accessed on February 18, 2014. Pena, A. A. (2010). Poverty, legal status, and pay basis: The case of U.S. agriculture. Industrial Relations, 49(3), 429 456. Phillips, J. A., & Massey, D. S. (1999). The new labor market: Immigrants and wages after IRCA. Demography, 36(2), 233 246. Phillips, S., Hagan, J. M., & Rodriguez, N. (2006). Brutal borders?: Examining the treatment of deportees during arrest and detention. Social Forces, 85(1), 93 109. Reichman, D. (2013). Honduras: The perils of remittance dependence and clandestine migration. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved from http://www.migration policy.org/article/honduras-perils-remittance-dependence-and-clandestine-migration/. Accessed on February 17, 2014. Remesas de Salvadoren˜os. (2011). Salvadoren˜os en el mundo. Retrieved from http://salvadore nosenelmundo.blogspot.com/2011/05/remesas-de-inmigrantes-salvadorenos-en.html. Accessed on February 20, 2014. Repak, T. A. (1995). Waiting on Washington: Central American workers in the nation’s capital. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. Rodriguez, N. (1987). Undocumented central Americans in Houston: Diverse populations. International Migration Review, 21(1), 4 26. Rodriguez, N. (1995). Lessons on survival from central America. Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, 10(3), 90 93. Rodrı´ guez, N., & Hagan, J. (1999). Central Americans. In A. G. Dworkin & R. J. Dworkin (Eds.), The minority report: An introduction to racial, ethnic, and gender relations (3rd ed., pp. 278 296). Dallas, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

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Sandoval, G. F. (2013). Shadow transnationalism: Cross-border networks and planning challenges of transnational unauthorized immigrant communities. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 33(2), 176 193. Schmalzbauer, L. (2005). Striving to survive: A daily life analysis of Honduran transnational families. London: Routledge. Schmalzbauer, L. (2008). Family divided: The class formation of Honduran transnational families. Global Networks, 8(3), 329 346. Sladkova, J. (2013). Stratification of undocumented migrant journeys: Honduran case. International Migration. doi:10.1111/imig.12141 Sørensen, N. N. (2014). Central American migration, remittances, and transnational development. In D. Sa´nchez-Ancochea & S. Martı´ I Puig (Eds.), Handbook of central American governance (pp. 45 58). New York, NY: Routledge. Stølen, K. A. (2004). The reconstruction of community and identity among Guatemalan returnees. European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 77, 3 24. Stoll, D. (2012). El Norte or Bust!: How migration fever and microcredit produced a financial crash in a Latin American town. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Stoney, S., & Batalova, J. (2013). Central American immigrants in the United States. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/ central-american-immigrants-united-states. Accessed on February 18, 2014. Sua´rez-Orozco, M., & Pa´ez, M. (Eds.). (2009). Latinos: Remaking America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Suro, R. (2005). Remittances: Small senders, big business. In D. F. Terry & S. R. Wilson (Eds.), Beyond small change: Making migrant remittances count (pp. 21 40). Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank. Taylor, M., Moran-Taylor, M., & Ruiz, D. R. (2006). Land, ethnic, and gender change: Transnational migration and its effects on Guatemalan lives and landscapes. Geoforum, 37(1), 41 61. Terrazas, A. (2011). Central American immigrants in the United States. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/ central-american-immigrants-united-states-0/. Accessed on February 16, 2014. U.S. Census Bureau. (2010 2012). American Community Survey, FactFinder. Woodhouse, M. (2013). Reluctant migration: The vicious cycle of debt, deportation and flawed policy that drives central Americans over the border again and again. Retrieved from http://truth-out.org/news/item/13596-reluctant-migration-the-vicious-cycle-of-debt-dep ortation-and-flawed-policy-that-drives-central-americans-over-the-border-again-andagain. Accessed on February 18, 2014.

BETWEEN SUPPORT AND SHAME: THE IMPACTS OF WORKPLACE VIOLATIONS FOR IMMIGRANT FAMILIES Shannon Gleeson ABSTRACT Purpose This study examines the conditions that lead to workplace violations for low-wage immigrant workers, and how family life shapes their decision to speak up. I also highlight how both employer abuse and the claimsmaking process can impact individuals and their families. Methodology/approach This research adopts a mixed-method approach that includes a survey of 453 low-wage workers seeking pro bono legal assistance and 115 follow-up interviews with claimants. I also conduct a five-year ethnography of both a monthly state workshop provided for injured workers and a pro bono legal aid clinic in a predominantly Latino agricultural community on the California central coast. Findings Beyond the material effects of lost income, the stress of fighting for justice can have negative emotional impacts that intersect with complex family dynamics. While families can be an important

Immigration and Work Research in the Sociology of Work, Volume 27, 29 52 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 0277-2833/doi:10.1108/S0277-283320150000027010

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source of support and inspiration during this time, the burden of the breadwinner can also temper workers’ willingness to engage the labor standards enforcement system. Transnational obligations can further introduce a demobilizing dual frame of reference for workers who often hide their abuse from family members abroad who depend on them. Research implications Workplace abuse and the actual process of legal mobilization can have far-reaching effects on the families of lowwage immigrant workers, suggesting the need for a more holistic understanding of the claimsmaking experience. Originality/value This chapter tracks the challenges that workers face even once they have come forward to fight for their rights, and the multiple effects on families and children. Keywords: Legal mobilization; workplace violation; family dynamics

INTRODUCTION Immigrant workers are a crucial part of the global economy. In the United States, 16 percent of workers are foreign-born, and an estimated 5.4 percent are undocumented (Batalova, 2011; Passel & Cohn, 2009). Many of these workers are concentrated in low-wage industries where workplace violations are endemic, such as wage theft, unsafe work conditions, workplace injury, sexual harassment, and unjust terminations, and immigrant and undocumented workers are particularly at risk (Bernhardt et al., 2009). Federal and state laws often protect workers without regard to their immigration status, but conventional legal paradigms often overlook how workers are embedded in family units and broader communities, domestic, and transnational. A broader perspective is needed to understand not only the ripple effect of economic precarity, but also the role that families play in shaping worker legal mobilization. Families comprise important information networks, provide linguistic brokering, and share resources to help facilitate claims, what I refer to as “claimsmaking,” for workers in the wake of a workplace violation. For many, claimsmaking is a family affair, and parents, siblings, and even children often provide crucial support systems. However, family obligations can also influence whether and when aggrieved workers come forward to complain about abuses, and how far they will go to seek justice. This research draws on a survey of 453 low-wage workers in the San Francisco Bay Area who have sought help from a legal aid clinic for a

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workplace violation, in between June 2010 and April 2012. My data also include follow-up interviews with 91 of these survey respondents, plus a supplementary sample of 24 injured workers. I further draw on ethnographic fieldnotes from my work as a volunteer translator at a legal aid clinic located in an agricultural community on the California central coast. The chapter proceeds as follows. I begin by reviewing the literature on the feminization of immigration flows, the impacts of everyday deportability, and the challenges of immigrant worker mobilization. I then provide further details regarding the mixed methods approach for this study. My findings challenge the individualistic paradigms for conceptualizing workplace abuse and enforcing labor standards. I highlight the supportive function families play in helping immigrant workers find employment and providing assistance in the wake of workplace violations. I contrast this role with the difficult choices workers must make when deciding whether and how to fight for better working conditions. Ultimately, the negative fallout of both economic precarity and the legal bureaucracy impact claimants and those who depend on them, here and abroad.

LITERATURE The Feminization of Migration and Everyday Deportability The traditional image of a single male migrating north is no longer the singular model of immigration. Increasingly, women are making the trek to the United States as well, with a current foreign-born male-to-female ratio of 95 (Migration Policy Institute, 2015), compared to 101 in 1997 (Schmidley & Gibson, 1999). Half of male Mexican migrants (the largest immigrant nationality in the U.S.) travel alone, and women migrants tend to follow other family members (Cerrutti & Massey, 2001). Each year immigrant workers send an estimated $48.4 billion a year in remittances to their countries of origin (Congressional Budget Office, 2011). Immigrants are more likely to be married (55 percent, vs. 47 percent of native-born) (Brown & Patten, 2014), and these migrants are often separated from spouses, children, and elderly dependents in their country of origin who depend on their support (Abrego, 2014; Donato, 2010; Zavella, 2011). This “feminization” of the immigration flow means that the context of reception for immigrants increasingly has far-reaching implications for families. Although 1 in 20 U.S. workers are undocumented, the immigration enforcement regime has a far broader impact on the families of these

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workers (Abrego & Gleeson, 2013; Dreby, 2012). Forty-five percent of unauthorized-immigrant households are couples with children, and of all children with at least one unauthorized parent, 79 percent were born in the United States (Passel & Taylor, 2010). From another perspective, in 2010, over 9 million individuals were in families with at least one unauthorized adult and one U.S.-born child (Taylor, Lopez, Passel, & Motel, 2011). Detention and deportation can devastate entire families, and the constant surveillance and fear of removal can discipline entire communities (Talavera, Nun˜ez-Mchiri, & Heyman, 2010). This layers on top of economic disadvantage and workplace abuse to create multiplicative effects. Migrant workers frequently follow in the paths of their pioneer friends and family members who then help them navigate local labor markets (Durand & Massey, 2006; Smith, 2010). These job referrals help new workers find employment more easily than they might otherwise. Yet such strong ties are not always the most fruitful (Granovetter, 1973, 1995), and poor network ties can impact workers’ ability to find a job that matches their skill set (Pastor & Marcelli, 2000). Ethnic ties can be constraining and insufficient to lift immigrants out of poverty (Menjı´ var, 2000), and in many cases may funnel workers directly into exploitative contexts with little access to social mobility (Sanders & Nee, 1987; Waldinger & Lichter, 2003). Friend and family connections are important for integrating immigrants into complex support bureaucracies that often lack sufficient staff and resources to assist linguistically and culturally diverse clienteles (e.g., Katz, 2014). As a result, non-English-speaking parents often rely on their children and other family members to act as linguistic and cultural brokers. Iconic examples include students translating between their immigrant parents and teachers and children accompanying parents to their medical appointments. Children can also be vital in mobilizing their parents to fight for their immigrant rights (Bloemraad & Trost, 2008). However, this burden can be disruptive to family dynamics and challenge normative power relations between parents and children (Orellana, 2001; Reynolds & Orellana, 2009).

Worker Rights and Complicated Bureaucracies Foreign-born workers are nearly twice as likely to experience a minimum wage violation, especially foreign-born Latinos and undocumented women (Bernhardt et al., 2009). Latino immigrants also have the highest rates of occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities (Orrenius & Zavodny, 2009), and undocumented workers experience particularly heightened exposure to

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numerous hazards (Hall & Greenman, 2014). The high rates of poverty amongst Latinos are due not to lack of labor force participation, but rather the poor quality of jobs in which they are concentrated (Pastor, 2009, p. 24). Undocumented immigrants in particular are concentrated in positions that are exempt from statutory protections, such as small businesses or independent contracts. Immigrants face distinct challenges to mobilizing their workplace rights, such as linguistic barriers and unfamiliarity with U.S. bureaucracies, and undocumented workers are further disadvantaged. While federal and state laws protect workers without regard to their immigration status, following the Supreme Court’s 2002 Hoffman Plastics v. National Labor Relations Board decision, undocumented workers can face limited access to some of the most important remedies, such as reinstatement and backpay (Fisk & Wishnie, 2005).1 Undocumented status can also discourage aggrieved workers from coming forward to file claims, not only due to fear of deportation, but also as a way to identify as a hard worker and accepted member of society (Gleeson, 2010). Even workers who know about their rights may be unwilling to demand them, for fear of being blacklisted or other retribution (Mireles, 2013). Workplace abuse can impact men and women in distinct ways. Female migrant workers are more likely to face rampant sexual harassment, such as the epidemic of rape in agricultural fields (Bauer & Ramı´ rez, 2010). Financial need shifts how these women navigate these risks in their search for economic survival (Castan˜eda & Zavella, 2003). Immigrant men face their own set of challenges. The labor force participation of immigrant mothers is lower than that of native-born mothers, but foreign- and nativeborn fathers are working at very similar levels (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). This means that these working fathers are also likely to be supporting relatively more dependents, especially stay-at-home moms with young children (Cohany & Sok, 2007). Economic disadvantage can have far-reaching effects beyond monetary loss. Parents who feel that they are unable to support their families experience emotional distress and feelings of inadequacy. When women are unable to contribute income equally to the household, patriarchal expectations regarding the “second shift” are reinforced, thus cementing the disproportionate burden of reproductive labor on women (Cohen, 2004; Zavella, 1987). Women experiencing intimate partner abuse are particularly vulnerable if they have few economic alternatives to support themselves and their children (e.g., Alcalde, 2010; Berger, 2009; Edelson, Hokoda, & Ramos-Lira, 2007; Mattson & Ruiz, 2005; Villalo´n, 2010).

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In this chapter I examine how the experience of workplace violation impacts workers’ family lives, how families support workers through the process of fighting for their rights, and how workers weigh their obligation to their family against the goal of seeking justice.

METHODOLOGY This study examines the experiences of low-wage workers who have experienced workplace abuse and decided to come forward to seek restitution. I draw on a survey of 453 workers seeking pro bono legal assistance for a range of claims, such as wage theft, unjust termination, sexual harassment, and workplace injury. I examine the conditions that lead to these workplace violations, and the resources and challenges immigrant workers in particular confront when making claims on their rights. Surveys were conducted from June 2010 through April 2012, at four workers’ rights clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area.2 Interviews with 91 workers 12 30 months following their initial survey also provide insight into the experience workers had over the course of their claim. In this chapter, I focus especially on the 73 percent of respondents who are foreign-born (331). Of those, 27 percent identify as citizens (N = 89), 22 percent as legal permanent residents (N = 72), and 51 percent (N = 170) are estimated to be undocumented. As Table 1 confirms, this distribution is consistent with the sample of workers who were later interviewed. The survey sample reveals that while 77 percent of native-born claimants were married, only 52 percent had children. The opposite is true of foreign-born respondents. Forty-four percent of immigrant respondents were married, 77 percent of whom had children. The children of undocumented respondents were most likely to be school-aged, and a third of undocumented respondents with children had dependent children who lived in their country of origin. Additionally, I draw on a five-year study of occupational injury, through ongoing ethnographic observations of the monthly California Division of Workers’ Compensation Injured Workers Workshop, where I listened to workers describe their problems and requests for assistance. From this setting, I also interviewed 24 injured workers regarding their experience in navigating the workers’ compensation system. My experience as a volunteer legal interviewer for a small law clinic in a rural farmworker community on the central coast of California also inform these findings. Through

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The Impacts of Workplace Violations for Immigrant Families

Table 1.

Survey N = 453 % married % who have children Y % whose children are in school Y % whose dependent children live in the United States Y % whose dependent children live in country of origin % who send money to country of origin % who heard about clinic from friend/ family member Follow-up interviews N = 89 % married % who have children Y % whose children are in school Y % whose dependent children live at the United States Y % whose dependent children live in country of origin % who send money to country of origin % who heard about clinic from friend/ family member

Distribution of Study Respondents.

All

NB

FB

FB_Cit

FB_Non Cit_LPR

FB_Non Cit_NonLPR

453 .53 .70 .75

122 (.27) .77 .52 .65

331 (.73) .44 .77 .77

89 (.27) .47 .69 .67

72 (.22) .47 .83 .73

170 (.51) .42 .79 .83

.68

.73

.67

.77

.70

.62

.18

.22

.10

.15

.31

.47

.64

.45

.60

.76

.26

.16

.31

.22

.18

.40

89

23 (.26)

66 (.74)

15 (.23)

16 (.24)

35 (.53)

.47 .70 .71

.61 .43 .60

.42 .79 .73

.40 .80 .67

.44 .88 .86

.43 .74 .69

.77

.70

.79

.75

.86

.77

.13

.15

.17

.07

.19

.53

.71

.54

.75

.77

.35

.40

.31

.34

.33

.26

Notes: All = All respondents; NB = native-born respondents; FB = foreign-born respondents; FB_Cit = foreign-born respondents who are U.S. citizens; FB_NonCit_LPR = foreign-born respondents who are not U.S. citizens and identify as legal permanent residents; FB_NonCit_NonLPR = foreign-born respondents who are not U.S. citizens and do not identify as legal permanent residents (general proxy for undocumented).

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these data, I examine the conditions that gave rise to workplace abuse, the factors shaping when and how workers reported their violation, and how this journey affected workers and their families.

FINDINGS Balancing Family Life and Navigating Power at Work Low-wage workers struggle to balance family obligations with their job requirements. Few of the workers I interviewed had the power and autonomy that professionals like myself take for granted. For example, Melita, a Peruvian childcare worker was fired from her job for failing to fill out the appropriate vacation request forms to attend her daughter’s graduation from UCLA.3 She was subsequently fired. Similarly, Juana, a housekeeper at a large hospital, hastily arranged to attend her father’s funeral.4 He died on a Wednesday, and Juana asked for only one additional day off outside her regularly scheduled time, in order to travel to Mexico to make arrangements. Like Melita, she was fired on the technicality of failing to follow protocol, even though she had spoken with the office secretary, and her daughter called to confirm her mother’s plans. For workers like Juana, the lack of flexibility afforded by their employers in these emergency situations exacerbate the ongoing stressors of everyday family life. Juana’s termination came during a stressful period, which included her son’s deployment to Afghanistan and a lengthy divorce. Though she was protected by a union, after her union lost their contract, she had no recourse as an at-will employee. She subsequently went from an hourly pay rate of $23 with benefits to earning $10.50 at her new position at a non-unionized hotel. To make ends meet she works a grueling schedule from 5 am to 1 pm at the hospital, followed by another janitorial position from 3 pm to 11 pm. She ultimately lost her home, unable to qualify for a loan modification. Although federal and state law protects key aspects of family life, such as through the Family and Medical Leave Act (Albiston, 2010), the structural position of many low-wage immigrant workers, almost all of whom are at-will employees, leaves them unprotected in practice. For example, Consuelo, an undocumented mother, worked as a subcontracted janitor.5 She endured chronic wage theft, verbal abuse, and her supervisor refused to provide basic accommodations when she was pregnant. She rarely complained and continued in this position because she needed the money. She

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had her own child to support, as well as a niece she now cares for after her sister returned to Mexico. After a year with the company, Consuelo recounts how she was eventually fired. “He (her crew leader) asked, ‘are you pregnant?’ I said yes … I was only three months along. He responded, ‘you better just come back when you are done.’” In this tacit threat, Consuelo’s employer suggested that she had to choose. “Either end your pregnancy or end your job.” Consuelo took the case to the state discrimination agency, and sought legal assistance. However, because the small company had only five employees and was not covered by law, Consuelo was told she had no recourse. Because she was undocumented, she felt that her ability to demand reinstatement was also very tenuous. Employers are aware of workers’ obligations, and may also exploit family relationships in order to exact retribution. Though some statutes protect workers from employer retaliation (e.g., Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2014), these remedies are difficult to prove and pursue. For example, farmworkers regularly recounted being fearful that their entire family would be blacklisted by field subcontractors who avoided hiring “troublemakers.” Those workers who complained about unpaid wages, lack of water and toilets, or who reported injuries, may not be hired back the following season, and neither would their family members. For undocumented workers in particular, prompting employer retaliations posed a risk not only to individual workers, but also to any other family members who work for the same employer. Such was the case for Jordi, an undocumented Salvadoran cook whose cousin was fired soon after he filed a formal complaint.6 “When they received that card (from the Labor Commissioner), bam, they fired my cousin. Because of me, what a shame, they fired him … and told him that they just didn’t have any more work available … He didn’t say anything, since he really had just started.” In other cases, employers may exploit family ties to exact retribution. This was the dramatic case of a berry picker, who had filed a simple request for medical attention following a painful bug bite.7 Rather than address the worker’s concern, this woman’s supervisor constructed an elaborate story to claim that the bite was indeed evidence of a love affair. Threatening to expose her invented infidelity to her husband, the supervisor demanded that the worker drop her claim, which she did. However, when the bite soon after developed into a painful rash, and she asked again for medical attention, the worker was ultimately terminated. As the bite worsened, this worker pursued her claim independently with the help of the legal aid clinic. This unsurprisingly enraged her supervisor, who in response made true on her threat and called her husband.

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Other workers described similar tensions with family members prompted by the circumstances of workplace abuse. Susana had been a bedrock to her sister, and is the one that led the sexual harassment charge against her employer. Yet, at home she kept the ordeal a secret from her husband, for fear of what he would do.8 “I knew he wouldn’t just stand by and let it happen. And when he found out, he was very upset with me. In fact, today we got in a fight about it again. He says, ‘why didn’t I tell him,’ but honestly, I felt stuck in the middle. Either I tell him, and he marches up to the company and ‘takes care of it,’ and I’m now lost without a job and a husband who has landed in jail. Or, I stay quiet.” For both women, negotiating family relationships in the U.S. or abroad became an important aspect of pursuing workplace justice. While in some cases family members provided crucial support, the practical requirements of claimsmaking, and the shame associated with sexual harassment in particular, fostered feelings of secrecy and distrust.

Family Solidarity in Fighting for Justice Research has long documented the importance that social networks play in the lives of immigrant workers. To be sure, workers rely on family members for both moral and material support. Workers frequently recounted the importance of their family’s aid throughout the process of fighting workplace abuse. For example, Alonso, a prep cook at a popular restaurant explains how his mother’s influence encouraged him to speak up after he developed a hernia at work.9 “I (spoke up) because I get it from my upbringing from my mom … it’s essential to know that you have rights, that you can do things, and that you don’t have to be fearful of others.” Families also provided information about where to go for help. Whereas 16 percent of native-born respondents heard about the workers’ rights clinic from a friend or family member, this is true for 31 percent of the foreign-born (and 40 percent of the undocumented). For example, Angelina, an undocumented single mother, worked at a warehouse with her sister,10 where their supervisor would regularly “expose himself, stand in the scaffolding above and drop his pants, or just walk by and fondle his genitals in front of us.”11 Though Angelina was initially reluctant to come forward, she eventually followed her sister’s lead. “My sister and I started to talk about it … we decided to look for help. We didn’t complain to the company, but looked for other help.” After hearing about the workers’ rights clinic on the Internet and the radio, they made an appointment.

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Older workers often turned to their adult children for assistance, who in turn helped their immigrant parents tap into their wider social networks. Ramon, a ground manager for an apartment building was fired he felt, unjustly after nearly 21 years of service. He learned about the legal aid clinic from the sister of his daughter’s boyfriend, who was attending a nearby university.12 “He told me to go there, and what to do.” For limited English proficient workers, and those unfamiliar with the U.S. bureaucracy, family members were crucial assets for filling out government forms, for translating correspondence from employers, doctors, and insurance systems, and accompanying workers to meetings where no bilingual staff were made available. Clients who spoke indigenous languages often had to rely exclusively on their family members as their lifeline of communication. Many of the immigrant women I spoke to described gendered systems of mutual support, which helped them endure abuse where there were no other alternatives. This was true for undocumented family members in particularly, who, despite egregious abuses, had few other options and were strengthened by each other’s solidarity. For example, Magdalena and her sister worked minimum wage for a janitorial contractor, while attending college during the day.13 Despite putting in night shifts from 6 pm to midnight, six days a week, the women were regularly only paid for three hours a night. When they complained, they were told to accept the terms of pay, or they would be fired, given that “there are many workers willing to do this work if you are not.” In a down economy, with few alternative job prospects that could accommodate her schedule, Magdalena and her sister endured at this job for over three years until another opportunity crossed their path. In other cases, workers recounted speaking up specifically out of a desire to protect their family members. One undocumented college student and her sister worked as temporary employees for a local well-known restaurant.14 She recounted a high-pressure work environment, repeated verbal abuse from management, and differential treatment compared to the restaurant’s permanent and mostly white employees. Her sister was quiet and rarely spoke up. Belinda felt an obligation to protect her, and would regularly speak up on their behalf, drawing the ire of management. However, this courage also has its limits. One evening, Belinda was groped by two drunk male customers who followed her into the restroom. She immediately reported the incident to her manager, who characteristically did nothing in response, having branded Belinda a troublemaker. Fearing for her safety and especially that of her soft-spoken sister, Belinda and her sister simply quit.

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Family Obligations and Weighing a Claim Although families can play an important supportive role for immigrant workers, workers also heavily weigh their decision to speak up against their sense of obligation to these same family members. For workers like Jose Luis, an undocumented restaurant worker from Oaxaca, job was a lifeline for his entire family unit. He explained the reasons he journeyed north for work.15 “I asked (my brother) how the jobs were, and he said it was ok, that yes, there were jobs, and that if I just worked hard, I could do it.” Jose Luis started in a small factory that employed 15 workers or so, and after about a year went to work in a restaurant. “I earned about $2100 a month, and well, it was enough to get by, to go out and buy things and food, and have something to send home to your family.” As the youngest, and only unmarried, of 10 siblings, his devotion to his mother was a driving factor when he considered whether to complain about his unsafe work conditions and erratic scheduling. When he lost his second job, Jose was left with only a few shifts at McDonalds, picking up all the extra hours he could. So, in this context, unsafe work conditions were a secondary concern. Workers who were the primary breadwinners for their household felt a particularly heavy burden in a region with some of the highest housing costs in the nation.16 Juan Carlos, a driver who suffered a back injury while unloading his truck, explains why he ignored even the counsel of his coworkers who urged him to take it easy and seek medical care for his injuries.17 “They told me, don’t be stupid, quit my job, but, no, I had to pay my bills, my house, my car, I couldn’t just leave my job. So I continued to work 12 to 14 hour days.” He eventually separated from his wife due to the stress. Even the increased perception of deportation meant that workers may delay coming forward, as was the case with an undocumented masero in a tortilla factory, whose wife also worked on the line.18 He had previously joined a group of workers to demand a raise, but quickly backed off when lead organizers were fired under the pretense of a looming employer immigration audit. He regularly worked overtime without additional pay, had been injured on numerous occasions without medical attention, and was nearly numb to the constant verbal abuse. Yet, he was reluctant to pursue formal claims for his unpaid wages or injuries, fearing for the fate for both he and his wife, and their ability to provide for their young children. Workers also had to weigh their spouse’s workplace woes, which could be far more dire than their own. For example, Macarena was unemployed following a near fatal crash en route to her job at a discount retailer where

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she had worked for seven years.19 She spent three days in coma, three months in a hospital, and three months more recovering at home. Despite being told she would have a job waiting when she recovered, she was eventually let go. Her partner, a landscaper who worked long hours hesitated to go to the Labor Commissioner to demand his unpaid overtime. With Macarena’s declining health, he could not risk losing his job, although he also sorely needed to recover his lost income. Both Macarena and her partner were undocumented, making his wages the only viable source of support for the family. Even after filing a claim, many workers continue in their positions despite continued abuse from their employers. For example, Mariana explained why she continues to work for a popular ethnic grocer, despite the constant verbal abuse and retribution she had to endure from her spiteful manager.20 As 1 of 10 siblings, and the only one living in the United States, Mariana feels tremendous pressure to keep her job. While she feels that she could likely get a job elsewhere, she stays because she also values the store’s standard practice of permitting workers to take a month (unpaid) vacation during the holidays. Mariana desperately wants to visit her family in Mexico, although her pending U-Visa application, chronic illness, and finances have kept her from actually doing so. She and her children also benefit from the health insurance the store provides. Nonetheless, these benefits trump the long hours, low pay, and other harassment she endures. In other cases, I found some workers who may have initiated a claim, but chose not to pursue it because of the time it would have taken them away from their job and family. I spoke with Lino,21 an undocumented Mexican who had been in the U.S. for about a decade and who worked as part of a small tree service. He did everything from truck driving, to working the chipper, and clearing brush. He had been injured, cheated of his promised wages, and the Chicano owners would constantly lodge insults at Lino and his co-workers, calling them frijoleros/beaners, perritos/doggies, mojados/wetbacks, or simply, pinche mexicanos/fucking Mexicans. When one ambitious worker managed to rally his fellow full-time permanent staff to complain, they were immediately fired, including Lino. Immediately thereafter, the tree service completely shut down, in an attempt to avoid paying the wage settlement. While the other indignant workers pursued their claim and won, Lino chose not to. It all came down to time, he explained. He simply did not have time to attend the appointments necessary to move his individual claim forward. He was still crawling out of debt he accumulated during the six weeks he was left without a job. He had

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borrowed money extensively to carry him through this bout of unemployment, and had a wife and two small children (ages three and six) to support. While he liked his new boss, Lino feared that he might discover his previous claim, and brand him a troublemaker. When I asked Lino if he wanted to reopen his case, given his co-workers’ success, and since he was still well within the statute of limitations to do so, he was ambivalent. He contrasted his situation to his co-workers, who had ultimately returned to Mexico. Unlike them, Lino had chosen to remain in the United States with his family, and hence still had a lot to lose.

Long-Term Impacts of Workplace Violations on Families Here and There The economic and emotional impacts of workplace abuse, and the arduous process of fighting for one’s rights, can compound the everyday challenges of family life. On the economic end, lost income can be devastating for families already living a precarious existence. For example, Yadira, a unionized janitor earning $9/hour, was never given her union-negotiated $12/hour contract wage, and had not received any raises in her four years of service. When she complained, she was ultimately fired, on the pretense of unauthorized use of company equipment, a claim she denies.22 To make matters worse, soon after she lost her job, Yadira’s son was shot in the head by gang member, forcing her family to move to a safer, and more expensive neighborhood to avoid further retaliation. Her rent went from $950 to $1500/month. “I used my last check to pay rent, and then my (three) other brothers loaned me money little by little. But, it was so traumatic, I felt very bad, where was I going to ask for help? And what was more, we had other problems at home.” After two months of searching, Yadira eventually found a lower paid non-union position through her husband’s cousin. She has been there for two years without a raise, but appreciates the flexibility he allows her. Finances remain tight, as she is the sole earner for her disabled husband and five children. Legally, she has no right to get her job back. While the process of filing a legal claim can bring some restitution, workers’ attempts to negotiate demands at work can permanently stress family relationships. Joaquı´ n, a skilled welder explained the circumstances that eventually led to his family separation.23 “I had been at that company for seven years, I had paid vacation, I had paid bonuses at the end of the year … I dedicated so many years, many hours to that company, and was even on the brink of losing my son (for it).” The long hours he was forced

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to work meant time away from his growing children and wife. After he became injured and was soon thereafter fired, Joaquin his wife and children were forced to move in with family hundreds of miles away in another part of the state. Losing both his job and his family has taken an emotional toll. “Since I stopped working, everything has changed for me, my life, family, economic state. It’s affected me … there are moments when I am depressed, I get angry easily, but I’m taking medication to deal with it, because I can’t handle it anymore. I can’t live without that pill. I have to take it every day. But I’m telling you, before (this injury), I didn’t live this way.” Jonata´n, another injured truck driver, describes the effect his injury has had on his marriage.24 “I’ve had problems with my wife … I’m stressed, irritated, in a bad mood. All of that, the whole world notices.” Before losing his job, Jonata´n earned $27/hour at a company where he had worked 17 years. He would also often pick up additional deliveries to earn extra cash. But by the time I spoke with him, the years of prosperity were far behind him. After suffering a back injury, he was unable to find work, was struggling with the workers’ compensation insurance company, and his disability payments were running out. “I keep looking for work and sending the reports they ask for. In the month and a half to come, I will run out of money and my savings, because my costs are serious, house payments, I have four kids …. insurance, cars … daily costs, food, electricity, water, all of that, next month, I don’t know how I’m going to do it.” Unauthorized injured workers face particular challenges when they lose their job. They do not qualify for federal unemployment benefits, and only qualify for state disability if they have paid into the system (Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center, 2012). Pancho, an undocumented metalworker with a back injury, recounts the multiplicative effect his injury had on his family.25 “It is difficult to live without papers. I’ve been here 15 years; I have two sons born here, 5 and 10. … So I would say it’s desperate to be here without papers, no driver’s license, tried to find a job, and now even worse, injured.” For some injured workers, the impact is far more than economic, and also affects their very identity as a parent. Marta, an injured fieldworker and single mother explained how her back injury impacted her ability to care for her children.26 Strapped for cash, she also lamented her basic inability to use her hands to cook. “I had always cooked for the house … my son would say ‘I’m hungry,’ and you may not believe it, but I couldn’t even cut a chicken, I couldn’t be on my feet ….it was very frustrating.” Ashamed, she also admitted that out of frustration she would scold her children who were insistent. Concurrently navigating an abusive

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marriage, she eventually found someone to help her cook, despite enduring scorn from other mothers. “That was a dark time … that I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” she implored. Similarly, Berta, an undocumented mother who was fired after complaining about her manager’s constant verbal harassment, described how the ordeal compounded her existing troubles.27 Already suffering from depression, and struggling with an alcoholic husband, her mental health deteriorated further. The abuse and the arduous process of finding a new job, seeking public assistance to sustain her family, and dealing with the requirements that the public bureaucracy demanded were overwhelming. Many Latina immigrants like Marta and Berta lack access to mental health services, which can lead to debilitating effects in work and family life (Organista & Snowden, 2003). Their plight goes largely unnoticed. Even for workers who are in the U.S. alone, financial obligations to support families in their country of origin can weigh heavy. Octavio, an undocumented Peruvian truck driver, worried constantly about how to support his family back home.28 Seventy-six percent of undocumented respondents like him sent money home to their country of origin, compared to only 45 percent of foreign-born U.S. citizens. During his three years of working 60 hours a week delivering seafood, Octavio had complained about broken equipment numerous times. Each time something happened, he was told to simply “be more careful.” One day he slipped and fell while loading a truck, injuring his knee and shoulder. At first, he doubted the gravity of the injury, but reported it nonetheless to his supervisor as he was trained to do. The supervisor directed him to finish his route, as there were no other drivers available. “Since I had done it a bunch of times … like when I was sick with the flu, (I was always told) ‘you can do it, you can do it’… It was normal.” Octavio’s family obligations led him push to through his pain. “The whole world knows that you need to work, that you need to send money to your family.” He continued working until the pain became too severe. When he finally went to file a claim, the human resources department delayed sending Octavio to the hospital. When he ultimately visited the assigned occupational health clinic, they dismissed his claim. A year later, he has struggled with the workers’ compensation system, is running out of disability payments, and is unable to return to work. He fears that he will no longer be able to afford to send $1000 $1200 to Mexico to support his children’s university education. “While I was working, it was no problem … So for me it is very hard … Even though I don’t have family here, my economic obligations to my kids are strong …. Since I got injured, I practically don’t sleep.”

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The obligations immigrant workers have to their families can extend to complex family structures in which their current economic struggles in the U.S. matter less than the comparative disadvantage of their relatives back home. Berta struggles to balance her obligations to her own children, as well as her husband’s parents, to whom she also feels responsible. “They live in Mexico, but nonetheless, since we’re the only ones who are over here … I send them money.” Her alcoholic husband does not consistently send support, so it falls on Berta to do so. These obligations, on top of having to battle the food stamps office she’s relied on since losing her job has been difficult. “Imagine, you’re depressed, you get a bill, you think, Oh God, I want to kill myself.” And in fact, Berta did attempt suicide, and spent time recuperating in the hospital. “So now all these problems at work come to me as a mountain, and I’ve never felt more isolated … I would ask God, what am I going to do? I would cry, I wouldn’t go out, and my kids (were affected). I think that when I got depressed, the whole house did too.” Consuelo similarly recounted her regret at not being able to help grandmother with medical bills for cancer treatment after she was fired. “It affected me considerably … I was the one that sent her money to help her survive, and when I stopped working, her cancer advanced because I didn’t send her money for the medicine. That affected me so much, and affected my pregnancy because of how depressed I became. I was so depressed that I couldn’t send my grandmother money, and she died.” Wrangling with workplace problems was stressful enough for workers, but navigating labor standards enforcement bureaucracies also had deleterious effects on respondents and their family lives. Juanes, the only son of a family of eight children, discussed how his injury, the workers’ compensation claim he attempted to file, and ultimately losing his job, impacted his ability to be with his mother during her final days.29 “I was at the Oakland airport like at 10pm, I had my phone and a calling card, I tried to call. I had been talking with my sister … they kept telling my mom ‘Just hold on, Juanes is coming’… the doctor had already said there was no cure … she kept opening her eyes looking for me.” Because he had to comply with the various requirements for his case, Juanes had delayed his trip home too long, and never made it in time to say goodbye. Some workers had their family lives completely transformed by the abuse they faced at work, and the complicated requirements of filing and sustaining a claim. For example, Gloria,30 an undocumented single mother from Mexico City, was sexually assaulted by a male supervisor at the union maintenance job where she worked. As a lesbian, she experienced constant harassment, but otherwise valued this unionized $15/hour job, which she

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described as a “godsend” after losing her previous job for taking time off following the death of her mother. Gloria had endured unwanted groping for four months until she finally spoke up and alerted her supervisors. When they dismissed her accusations, her therapist encouraged her to talk to the police. She recorded her manager’s improprieties, and took the evidence to the police, who quickly identified the aggressor in a database of offenders. He was swiftly arrested and convicted, yet Gloria was fired and left only with the option of filing a workers’ compensation claim for the psychological distress she had endured. In order to receive her benefits, Gloria was declared disabled, and unable to simultaneously return to work. She also had to see an insuranceappointed psychiatrist, who spoke no Spanish and insisted she take medication instead of providing talk therapy. After a grueling process that required hours of depositions, her claim ultimately produced a $15,000 settlement, which quickly dried up after a year of paying debts and supporting her family. Gloria ultimately lost her apartment, separated from her partner, and with no other income to rely on, she reluctantly moved in with friends, during which time her son was sexually molested. She unequivocally blamed herself. Emotionally distressed, Gloria detailed a litany of ripple effects that her assault and the subsequent claimsmaking process had on her family. They didn’t give me my job back (as promised) … I was the victim in this case, they took my job … this man went to jail, I filmed it, took all the proof to the police, everything was proven … and now, I wonder, why did I speak up? I ended up without a job, I ended up in all sorts of problems, so now I wonder, why did I speak up? I should have stayed quiet, I would have kept my job, my economic state would have been better, because that was a good job … My son’s rapist went to jail and is now out. My aggressor went to jail and is now out. But I am left here, with nothing.

As a crime victim, Gloria was eligible for a U-Visa. However, during this time of extreme stress and poverty, Gloria took desperate measures to support her family and was convicted of petty theft, thus jeopardizing her visa application. She now relies mostly on a modest amount of child support, food assistance, and odd jobs. Her younger son is doing better now, but not great. Her older son, who is undocumented and does not qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, left college to help out financially. Gloria’s family in Mexico calls often, but she is ashamed to share her story. “I don’t tell them what I’m going through. They think I have it good, that I live in the U.S., and that everything is great. But I can’t bring myself to tell them anything.” For workers like Gloria, the impact of workplace abuse was far-reaching, leaving her with a

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cautionary tale about the benefits and costs of claimsmaking. Obligated to both her children in the U.S. and her family in Mexico, she assured me that she would have been better off saying nothing.

CONCLUSION In this chapter, I have offered a broader look into the impact of workplace violations and the process of seeking restitution for workers and their families. These findings demonstrate that workplace abuse (which at times may be deemed wholly legal by the law) can affect far more than the individual workers at whom they are targeted. Workers struggle to balance workplace demands with family life, and employers may exploit family relationships in efforts to control workers. When issues arise, workers often rely on their family for support, yet must consider their obligation to these same family members when considering the time and opportunity costs of filing a claim. For undocumented workers, the looming specter of deportation, and the prohibition against authorized work, raises the stakes of employer retaliation. The demands of family life fall heavy on women workers who are mothers, but also men who feel the weight of being the primary breadwinner. Basic obligations such as childcare and elder care must be delicately managed, and major life changes such as deaths, divorces, and pregnancy can create particular stress. These economic and emotional tensions impact families living in the United States, as well as transnational immigrant families who rely on remittances and may poorly understand the challenges their migrant loved ones are facing. In some instances, aggrieved immigrant workers may turn to their family for support. Yet in others, they may feel shame for failing to prosper, and wish instead to protect their families from the burdens they face. Predominant paradigms of low-wage work tend to focus on the dyadic relationships between employers and workers. However, worker protections and outreach strategies must acknowledge the families and communities in which workers are embedded, and the far-reaching impact of workplace abuse. Existing protections such as the Family and Medical Leave Act are insufficiently enforced, and is near non-existent for precarious workers, those in temporary and contract positions, and especially those who are undocumented. For those lacking legal status, unjust terminations after complaining about wage theft, sexual harassment, or unsafe

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work conditions are a costly risk. In a claims-driven system, the burden of initiating enforcement falls to workers who bear the brunt of employer retaliation that often follows. The fear of deportation is real, but just as important are the consequences of being fired. Limited remedies for backpay and reinstatement, and blocked access to most social safety net programs for undocumented workers raise the stakes. Future research in immigrant incorporation must continue to identify how the various arenas of immigrant life intersect. The typically individualized models for economic integration must cast a wider gaze to understand how economic precarity impacts family life. Labor scholars should also critically examine how families both support and complicate immigrant workers’ abilities to make claims on their rights. In an era in which remittances play an increasing share of household income in traditional sending countries, binational models of workers’ rights enforcement deserve greater attention as well.

NOTES 1. While Hoffman was focused on the context of the National Labor Relations Act, over the last decade, there have been ongoing challenges in the courts that leave the rights of undocumented workers unsettled. The State of California has inscribed the rights of undocumented workers in Labor Code 1171.5, and recently passed additional protections against employer retaliations (National Employment Law Project, 2013). However, the actual implementation of these protections remain to be seen. 2. Respondents were incentivized with a $15 gift card for their participation. 3. Interview, 9/11/13. 4. Interview, 9/21/13. 5. Interview, 10/21/11. 6. Interview, 12/12/11. 7. Interview, 10/8/13. 8. Interview, 10/8/13. 9. Interview, 3/3/09. 10. Interview, 1/9/14. 11. Interview, 10/8/13. 12. Interview, 12/20/11. 13. Interview, 5/21/14. 14. Interview, 5/14/14. 15. Interview, 3/5/09. 16. The California minimum hourly wage at the time of this research was $8.00, and rose to $9.00 in 2014. In contrast, the living wage for a single adult is currently $12.83 in San Francisco, $12.01 in San Jose, and $11.51 in Oakland, CA. Available at http://livingwage.mit.edu/

The Impacts of Workplace Violations for Immigrant Families 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

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Interview, 10/9/09. Interview, 4/8/14. Interview, 9/23/13. Interview, 12/20/11. Interview, 11/22/13. Interview, 6/6/13. Interview, 7/29/09. Interview, 7/17/09. Interview, 7/17/09. Interview, 2/28/09. Interview, 12/12/11. Interview, 2/13/09. Interview, 1/24/12. Interview, 10/3/13.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author acknowledges helpful discussion during the UC Wide Immigration Conference, We Asked for Workers and Families Came: Children, Youth, and Families In Migration (University of California-Los Angeles, 2/22/13), and feedback provided by Patricia Zavella and an anonymous reviewer. The author also acknowledges funding support from the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UC MEXUS), the UC Global Health Institute Center of Expertise in Migration and Health, the UC Center for New Racial Studies, the UC Santa Cruz Committee on Research (COR) Faculty Research Grant, and the UCSC Chicano/Latino Research Center.

REFERENCES Abrego, L. (2014). Sacrificing families: Navigating laws, labor, and love across borders. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Abrego, L., & Gleeson, S. (2013). Immigration policies hurt immigrant families more than they help. In T. Payan & E. de la Garza (Eds.), Working Paper in Immigration Reform: A System for the 21st Century. Rice University Baker Institute’s Latin America Initiative Immigration Research Project. Albiston, C. R. (2010). Institutional inequality and the mobilization of the family and medical leave act: Rights on leave. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Alcalde, M. C. (2010). Violence across borders: Familism, hegemonic masculinity, and selfsacrificing femininity in the lives of Mexican and Peruvian migrants. Latino Studies, 8(1), 48 68.

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Batalova, J. (2011). Foreign-born wage and salary workers in the US labor force and unions. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved from http://www.migrationinformation.org/usfocus/display.cfm?ID=855#3 Bauer, M., & Ramı´ rez, M. (2010). Injustice on our plates: Immigrant women in the U.S. food industry. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved from http://www.splcenter.org/getinformed/publications/injustice-on-our-plates Berger, S. (2009). (Un)worthy: Latina battered immigrants under VAWA and the construction of neoliberal subjects. Citizenship Studies, 13(3), 201 217. Bernhardt, A., Milkman, R., Theodore, N., Heckathorn, D., Auer, M., DeFilippis, J., & Gonza´lez, A. L. (2009). Broken laws, unprotected workers: Violations of employment and labor laws in America’s cities. Center for Urban Economic Development, National Employment Law Project, and the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Retrieved from http://nelp.3cdn.net/319982941a5496c741_9qm6b92kg.pdf Bloemraad, I., & Trost, C. (2008). It’s a family affair: Intergenerational mobilization in the spring 2006 protests. American Behavioral Scientist, 52(4), 507 507. Brown, A., & Patten, E. (2014). Statistical portrait of the foreign-born population in the United States, 2012. Washington, DC: Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2014/04/29/statistical-portrait-of-the-foreign-born-populationin-the-united-states-2012/ Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2014). Labor force characteristics of foreign-born workers summary. Economic News Release. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/forbrn. nr0.htm Castan˜eda, X., & Zavella, P. (2003). Changing constructions of sexuality and risk: Migrant Mexican women farmworkers in California. Journal of Latin American Anthropology, 8(2), 126 150. Cerrutti, M., & Massey, D. S. (2001). On the auspices of female migration from Mexico to the United States. Demography, 38(2), 187 200. Cohany, S. R., & Sok, E. (2007). Married mothers in the labor force: Trends in labor force participation of married mothers of infants. Monthly Labor Review. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2007/02/art2full.pdf Cohen, P. N. (2004). The gender division of labor: ‘Keeping house’ and occupational segregation in the United States. Gender and Society, 18, 239 252. Congressional Budget Office. (2011). Migrants’ remittances and related economic flows. Retrieved from http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/120xx/doc12053/ 02-24-remittances_chartbook.pdf Donato, K. M. (2010). U.S. migration from Latin America: Gendered patterns and shifts. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 630(1) (July 1), 78 92. Dreby, J. (2012). How today’s immigration enforcement policies impact children, families, and communities: A view from the ground. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress. Retrieved from http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/ 08/DrebyImmigrationFamiliesFINAL.pdf Durand, J., & Massey, D. S. (2006). Crossing the border: Research from the Mexican migration project. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation Publications. Edelson, M. G., Hokoda, A., & Ramos-Lira, L. (2007). Differences in effects of domestic violence between Latina and non-Latina women. Journal of Family Violence, 22(1), 1 10. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2014). Facts about retaliation. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/facts-retal.cfm

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Fisk, C. L., & Wishnie, M. J. (2005). The story of Hoffman plastic compounds, Inc. v. NLRB: Labor rights without remedies for undocumented immigrants. In Labor law stories (pp. 399 438). New York, NY: Foundation Press. Gleeson, S. (2010). Labor rights for all? The role of undocumented immigrant status for worker claims-making. Law and Social Inquiry, 35(3), 561 602. Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. The American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360 1380. Granovetter, M. S. (1995). Getting a job: A study of contacts and careers. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Hall, M., & Greenman, E. (2014). The occupational cost of being illegal in the United States: Legal status, job hazards, and compensating differentials. International Migration Review, (April). doi:10.1111/imre.12090. Katz, V. (2014). Children as brokers of their immigrant families’ health-care connections. Social Problems, 61(2), 194 215. Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center. (2012). Undocumented workers: Employment rights|legal aid society employment law center. Retrieved from http://www.las-elc.org/ undocumented-workers-employment-rights Mattson, S., & Ruiz, E. (2005). Intimate partner violence in the Latino community and its effect on children. Health Care for Women International, 26(6), 523 529. doi:10.1080/ 07399330590962627. Menjı´ var, C. (2000). Fragmented ties: Salvadoran immigrant networks in America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Migration Policy Institute. (2015). Males per 100 females ratio among immigrants to U.S., 1870 2013. Retrieved from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/ charts/males-100-females-ratio-among-immigrants-1870-present Mireles, G. F. (2013). Continuing La Causa: Organizing labor in California’s strawberry fields (Vol. 28). Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. National Employment Law Project. (2011). The U Visa: A potential immigration remedy for immigrant workers facing labor abuse. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www. nelp.org/page/-/Justice/2011/UVisa.pdf Orellana, M. F. (2001). The work kids do: Mexican and Central American immigrant children’s contributions to households and schools in California. Harvard Educational Review, 71(3), 366 389. Organista, K. C., & Snowden, L. (2003). Latino mental health in California: Implications for policy. In D. Lo´pez & A. Jime´nez (Eds.), Latinos and public policy in California: An agenda for opportunity (pp. 217 239). Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Public Policy Press. Orrenius, P. M., & Zavodny, M. (2009). Do immigrants work in riskier jobs? Demography, 46(3), 535 551. Passel, J., & Cohn, D. (2009). A portrait of the unauthorized migrants in the United States. Report. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center. Retrieved from http://pewhispanic.org/ files/reports/107.pdf Passel, J. S., & Taylor, P. (2010). Unauthorized immigrants and their U.S.-born children. Washington, DC: Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project. Retrieved from http://www. pewhispanic.org/2010/08/11/unauthorized-immigrants-and-their-us-born-children/ Pastor, M. (2009). Poverty, work, and public policy: Latino futures in California’s new economy. In R. A. Gutie´rrez & P. Zavella (Eds.), Mexicans in California: Transformations and challenges (pp. 15 35). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

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Pastor, Jr., M., & Marcelli, E. A. (2000). Men N the Hood: Skill, spatial, and social mismatch among male workers in Los Angeles County. Urban Geography, 21(6), 474 476. doi:10.2747/0272-3638.21.6.474 Reynolds, J. F., & Orellana, M. F. (2009). New immigrant youth interpreting in white public space. American Anthropologist, 111(1), 211 223. Sanders, J. M., & Nee, V. (1987). Limits of ethnic solidarity in the enclave economy. American Sociological Review, 52(6), 745 773. Schmidley, A. D., & Gibson, C. (1999). Profile of the foreign-born population in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/99pubs/p23-195.pdf Smith, S. S. (2010). A test of sincerity: How black and Latino service workers make decisions about making referrals. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 629(1), 30 52. Talavera, V., Nun˜ez-Mchiri, G. G., & Heyman, J. (2010). Deportation in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands: Anticipation, experience, and memory. In N. De Genova & N. Peutz (Eds.), The deportation regime: Sovereignty, space, and the freedom of movement. Durham: Duke University Press. Taylor, P., Lopez, M. H., Passel, J. S., & Motel, S. (2011). Unauthorized immigrants: Length of residency, patterns of parenthood. Washington, DC: Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2011/12/01/unauthorized-immi grants-length-of-residency-patterns-of-parenthood/ Villalo´n, R. (2010). Violence against Latina immigrants: Citizenship, inequality, and community. New York, NY: New York University Press. Waldinger, R. D., & Lichter, M. I. (2003). How the other half works: Immigration and the social organization of labor. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Zavella, P. (1987). Women’s work and Chicano families: Cannery workers of the Santa Clara Valley. Anthropology of contemporary issues. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Zavella, P. (2011). I’m neither here nor there: Mexicans’ quotidian struggles with migration and poverty. Durham, NC: Duke University Press Books.

PART II LABOR UNIONS AND IMMIGRANT WORKERS

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LABOR UNION ACTIVITY AND THE CIVIC PARTICIPATION OF LATINO IMMIGRANT WORKERS Veronica Terriquez ABSTRACT Purpose This research examines how labor union involvement shapes the civic participation of low-wage Latino immigrant workers. Methodology/approach Drawing on survey and semi-structured interview data gathered from a Los Angeles janitors’ labor union, I examine whether or not and how Latino immigrants apply their union experience to involvement in their children’s schools. Findings Results indicate that the union’s targeted member mobilization efforts produce unequal participation in union activities among immigrant workers, fostering civic and leadership skills among some and not others. At the same time, immigrant workers who do become involved in their union are then able to draw on their labor organizing and advocacy experience to address issues and concerns at their children’s schools. For some, worksite activism functions as a catalyst for newfound civic engagement; for other immigrant workers with prior civic experience in

Immigration and Work Research in the Sociology of Work, Volume 27, 55 73 Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 0277-2833/doi:10.1108/S0277-283320150000027014

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their country origin or in the United States, union involvement enhances their leadership capacity. Originality/value This empirical investigation shows how the experience of mobilizing for protests and participating in worksite campaigns allows Latino immigrant union members to overcome what are typically considered barriers to civic participation that is, limited formal education, low occupational status, and limited English language skills. This study therefore suggests that labor union participation can have longterm effects on immigrants well beyond the benefits of a union contract. Keywords: Immigrant workers; labor unions; civic participation

The schools in this community are overcrowded … That’s why I helped with the campaign to open new schools. I talked to other parents so they would get involved. We collected signatures and organized a protest so that the government would pay attention to us and give us new schools. Graciela, janitor member of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Service Workers West (USWW)

Graciela came to the United States from El Salvador in the late 1990s. She found a job as a janitor in a large unionized skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles, and before long she was recruited to participate in building meetings, worksite actions, and other union activities. Although she did not care much for politics at the time, she felt her interactions with the union gave her no choice but to get involved. “When you are with the union, you realize that you need to participate with other people,” she told me. “Together, you have to stand up for your rights, or you will never get what you need, what you want.” As an undocumented immigrant, Graciela believes the union taught her that she had the right to organize and stand up for herself. It also gave her plenty of experience with how a campaign works. So when a local community organization launched a campaign to address the school overcrowding in the Pico Union neighborhood of Los Angeles where many fellow union members live, Graciela felt prepared to play a leadership role and help conduct outreach for the campaign. “This is what we do in the union get other people involved,” she explains. As an active member of SEIU United Service Workers West, a union local dominated by Latino immigrant janitors, Graciela’s testimony speaks to SEIU’s

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potential to foster civic engagement in an arena that has long-term implications for the future well-being of working-class immigrant families: children’s schools. Today, labor unions represent nearly 12% of immigrant workers in the United States. In addition to enhancing immigrants’ prospects for economic mobility, labor unions have the potential to further the civic and political incorporation of the immigrant workers that they represent. Drawing on survey data and semi-structured interviews gathered from lowwage Latino immigrant workers, this article investigates whether or not, and to what extent, Graciela’s above claim about her labor union experience applies to the other union members. Specifically, it examines how labor union involvement shapes immigrants’ civic participation in their children’s schools. In doing so, this research shows how the experience of mobilizing for protests and participating in worksite campaigns allows Latino immigrant workers to overcome what are typically considered barriers to civic participation that is, limited formal education, low occupational status, and limited English language skills. As such, this study suggests that labor union participation can have long-term effects on immigrants’ well-being beyond the benefits of a union contract.

IMMIGRANT WORKERS, LABOR UNIONS, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT Latino immigrant workers typically encounter a range of barriers to becoming civically engaged. To begin, many arrive in this country with low levels of education. As such, they often lack the human capital, as well as the self-confidence and social networks that a higher education affords, to facilitate their civic participation (Verba, Schlozman, & Brady, 1995). Additionally, Latino immigrants are generally employed in low-skilled, low-status occupations (Portes & Rumbaut, 2014). This limits their ability to gain civic skills while on the job (Verba et al., 1995). As immigrants, they may also lack familiarity with U.S. civic institutions, or encounter language-barriers to becoming involved in civic affairs in their new homeland (Cho, 1999). Finally, over 11 million immigrants are undocumented, and having a precarious legal status may, in some instances, inhibit some from becoming too visible in the public sphere (Abrego, 2011; Chavez, 1998). Labor unions can play a critical role in bolstering the civic and political participation of Latino immigrant workers, and thus assist them in

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overcoming challenges to becoming involved in civic affairs in the U.S. Labor unions, after all, have a long history of engaging the working-class in mainstream politics and social movements. With varying levels of success, they have mobilized their members and their families to vote, and some have directed and guided their members through a variety of nonworkplace campaigns and civic efforts (Fine, 2004; Nissen, 2010; Turner & Cornfield, 2007). Importantly, because immigrants comprise a growing share of the labor market over the last few decades, labor unions have devoted increased resources to organizing immigrants (Milkman, 2011). Labor unions, however, vary in the extent to which they provide their members with relevant experiences that expose them to participation in the public sphere. But those that encourage their members to participate in worksite mobilizations, electoral campaigns, and other outreach for political and community-building activities are likely to have the greatest potential to develop immigrants’ civic capacity. Such locals, sometimes referred to as social movement unions (Clawson & Clawson, 2003; Voss & Sherman, 2000), likely provide members with specific advocacy and organizing skills, or claims-making repertoires, that they can later apply to their children’s schools or other civic arenas. These claims-making repertoires, like theatrical repertoires, consist of scripts that is, a set or sequence of actions and strategies that individuals have performed or at least observed previously (McAdam, Tarrow, & Tilly, 2001). Hence, union involvement can serve as a catalyst for some immigrant workers to take initiative in leading efforts outside the worksite and within their communities. As Nissen’s (2010) study of SEIU’s Florida Healthcare Union (FHU) shows, this social movement experience can prompt members to express greater interest in politics and community issues.

Unequal Involvement and Civic Development among Members It is important to consider that labor union membership does not necessarily result in immigrant workers’ involvement in or endorsement of their union’s activities. In any union mobilization or action, only a portion of the membership participates. Unequal participation could in part be attributed to members’ exposure to their union’s workplace advocacy and organizing efforts. This is especially true in many low-wage occupations (including janitorial, homecare, restaurant) where immigrant workers are scattered throughout many worksites and differ in their direct contact with their union (Lopez, 2004; Zlolniski, 2006; Zullo, 2003). As prior research demonstrates, interaction with other active peers, contact with union staff, and

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direct exposure to union activities that is, individualized socialization practices tend to generate greater union involvement independent of members’ individual disposition to become involved in union activities (Fullagar, Gallagher, Gordon, & Clark, 1995). Worksites with greater union exposure and activity can also create social incentives (i.e., expectations of participation in collective action among coworkers) (Klandermans, 1984; Klandermans & Oegema, 1987) that may be absent in other worksites. While targeted mobilizations might shape patterns of participation, some immigrants may be more inclined to participate than others. For example, union participation can be related to the socio-demographic characteristics of members. As Cranford’s (2007) ethnographic research on Latino immigrant janitors suggests, women may be particularly motivated to participate since motherhood can inspire activism. Additionally, it is possible that immigrants who are somewhat more educated might find it easier to participate, as educational attainment can determine the types of information, skills, and other resources workers rely on to facilitate their involvement (Verba et al., 1995). Other factors can determine whether immigrant workers participate in union activities. Those with prior civic and political experience, or certain political views, might be particularly motivated to become involved. This includes immigrants with political experiences prior to migration (Waldinger et al., 1998). Personality traits, including those that lead some people to be particularly social or prone to become involved in group activities, could lead some to gravitate toward participation (Tepper & Gao, 2008). Immigrants who exhibit tendencies toward activism and group involvement may become active in the union regardless of recruitment efforts. Such immigrant workers are also likely to participate in non-union civic activities, such as children’s schools. Exploring patterns of immigrants’ involvement in their union can provide insights into whether the union’s mobilization efforts or other factors are motivating immigrant workers to become active in the labor movement. Such investigation also provides an understanding of the degree to which immigrants are expanding their civic capacities in order to participate in community or political affairs.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN SCHOOLS Schools represent unique sites for understanding how labor union involvement affects Latino immigrants’ independent civic participation. Schools are relatively accessible civic institutions for Latino immigrants, in the

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sense that they are plentiful in Latino immigrant communities and they do not require legal documentation for participation (Terriquez, 2012). Importantly, schools offer a variety of opportunities for civic engagement including critical forms of participation that provide parents with opportunities to voice their concerns and exercise leadership (Terriquez, 2011). Critical forms of school-based civic engagement contrast more passive or “plug-in forms” (Lichterman, 2005) of involvement (like volunteering) in which parents act under the direction of school personnel. Critical engagement includes contributing to decision-making processes and collective efforts to improve children’s schools. Labor union members with children enrolled in public schools can become involved in a range of school decision-making groups. For example, federal and state education policies require many public schools, including Title I schools (i.e., schools that serve low-income communities and receive federal funds), to maintain decision-making bodies, such as school-site councils and English Learner Advisory Committees. Additionally, some schools have informal advisory committees. Although parents’ power to exercise agency within school-sanctioned decisionmaking or advisory committees varies across schools, these committees potentially offer parents a space in which to contribute to decisions about school spending or policies (Marschall, 2006). Parents can also participate in grassroots organizations focused on school reform, or in informal collective efforts to improve their children’s schools. These efforts, which parents themselves may instigate, entail working with school stakeholders to advocate for policy changes and to address safety, health, programmatic, and curricular concerns. Participation in school decision-making or improvement efforts may entail critiquing school practices and questioning the actions of school authorities (Warren & Mapp, 2011). These critical forms of engagement have the potential to promote education justice (i.e., a more equal education system) and are particularly warranted in schools serving Latino immigrant and other working-class communities, which disproportionately suffer from classroom overcrowding, poor facilities, a shortage of qualified personnel, and the absence of challenging curricula (Oakes & Rogers, 2006).

RESEARCH FOCUS Focusing on SEIU’s USWW membership in Los Angeles, I examine the link between Latino immigrant workers’ involvement in their union and

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their participation in their children’s schools. I begin by exploring who becomes involved in the union’s campaign activities. To what extent do targeted mobilizations explain patterns of participation? Do sociodemographic patterns drive patterns of participation? I then examine whether active and inactive members differ in their independent participation. I ask, how, if at all, does union participation, a byproduct of their low-wage jobs, shape members’ school-based civic participation? What implications does the case of the janitors’ union have for the potential of organized labor to have a lasting impact on the civic and political incorporation of low-wage immigrant workers?

UNITED SERVICE WORKERS WEST AND JUSTICE FOR JANITORS Formerly known as Local 399 and Local 1877, SEIU USWW’s roots lie in the Justice for Janitors campaigns of the early 1990s that won union recognition for janitors in Los Angeles. The union’s intensive, highly visible campaigns emerged as a response to subcontracting, deunionization, and the decline in wages and working conditions that occurred in the 1980s. To the surprise of many at the time, SEIU sought to organize immigrant workers who were often perceived to be too vulnerable and afraid to mobilize because it was assumed that many were undocumented. However, some of these workers had prior extensive political experience as political refugees from El Salvador or Guatemala, or as labor activists in Mexico. The mass mobilization of this Latino immigrant janitorial workforce has figured prominently in the union’s ongoing success (Milkman, 2006; Waldinger et al., 1998), as the union has since engaged janitors and other members in numerous contract campaigns of the past 25 years. Typical of SEIU’s Justice for Janitors efforts across the country, USWW not only turns out its janitor and other members for workplace actions, it also mobilizes members for political rallies, immigrant rights marches, other protests, and actions organized by other unions. The local’s highly active and well-coordinated committee structure enables leaders to regularly recruit significant numbers of rank-and-file immigrant members to a range of union activities. The union’s Leadership Committee trains shop stewards on contractual issues, worksite problem solving, running meetings, and communication skills. Stewards learn to run workplace meetings that generate discussion and debate among members;

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they also receive training in how to involve their peers in collective problem solving around shared grievances or other workplace concerns. USWW’s Committee on Political Action (COPA) raises money for political campaign contributions, shapes the union’s political plan for the region, lobbies public officials, trains members on political issues, and engages members in voter mobilization and other political activities. The Organizing Committee helps develop campaigns at non-union worksites and coordinate mobilizations during union contract fights. In addition to these three committees, the union involves members in geographically based action teams that coordinate meetings and mobilizations in areas of Los Angeles County employing high concentrations of members. Despite its active committee structure, the labor union does not regularly invite all of its membership to participate in its efforts. The union represents immigrant workers employed in hundreds of buildings throughout Los Angeles County, the majority of whom clean buildings in the evening or at night. To maximize the efficiency of staff time and union resources, organizers focus their recruitment for union protests, rallies, and campaigns on large buildings with many evening- and night-shift workers. These buildings tend to have a high level of union activity and generate most of the turnout for union protests and other campaigns. The union also targets for mobilization non-janitorial staff working at sites with high concentrations of members during the most populated shifts. Below I account for the extent to which targeted mobilization might contribute to unequal patterns of members’ union involvement.

DATA AND METHODS To understand the characteristics of members who become involved in USWW, as well as the relationship between labor union membership and critical participation in schools, I use both survey and in-depth interview data. My colleagues at UCLA IDEA (Institute for Democracy Education and Access) and I collected telephone survey data from a simple random sample of the Local 1877 Los Angeles County membership list in 2007. We restricted the sample to parents with co-resident school-age children and excluded individuals for whom current telephone information was missing from the union’s roster. The survey data contain 378 respondents and include information on union members’ demographic backgrounds, work shifts, labor union participation, and involvement in the school of one randomly selected school-age child.

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Using quota sampling, I conducted in-depth interviews with 40 Latino union members. Half of the sample participated in union activities; the other half did not. I asked respondents about their civic participation at different points in time to understand the temporal ordering of their labor union, school, and other forms of civic engagement. In addition to collecting data from members, I obtained additional information on how USWW involves its members in union activities, particularly night-time workers, through participant observation of union meetings and other activities, and through interviews with staff and member leaders (for more information about the study data and methodology, see Terriquez, 2011). In the findings below, I begin by sharing descriptive statistics that separate USWW members by whether they participated in the union’s campaign activities. I measure union participation based on whether a member attended a union rally or action, participated in precinct walking, or conducted phone banking or other outreach for the union within the past year. I complement these findings with summaries of interview and other qualitative data. Following that, I use survey and interview data to examine the relationship between union participation and two measures of critical forms of schoolbased civic engagement involvement in school decision-making bodies and in meetings focused on improving schools. I translated all quotes presented below from Spanish to English and have edited some for clarity.

RESULTS Patterns of Union Participation Table 1 shows that 29% of respondents were “active” members of the union, meaning that within the previous year they attended a union action or rally, conducted phone banking or other outreach, or participated in precinct walking for a union-backed campaign. Active members were more likely to work night or evening shifts (84% compared to 64% of inactive members). A bivariate logistic regression analysis (not shown here) indicates that evening/night-shift workers were 2.85 times more likely than daytime workers to participate in union activities (p < .001). In other words, survey results suggest that the union’s targeted mobilization of night-time workers shaped patterns of participation. Meanwhile, through in-depth interviews with active members I learned that recruitment efforts by fellow immigrant workers or USWW organizers helped motivate many to become initially involved in the union. Almost all active participants I spoke to

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Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics for Active and Inactive SEIU USWW Members. Active Union Members (n = 111) (%)

Inactive Union Members (n = 267) (%)

Total

Percentage of sample

29

71

100

Work shift Works evening/night shift

84

64***

70

Background characteristics Gender Male Female

34 66

45+ 55+

42 59

Educational attainment Less than high school Latino Born in the United States Naturalized citizen Speaks English well Child is enrolled in high school

77 97 3 14 15 29

74 96 9*** 16 23+ 34

75 96 7 15 21 33

35 41

24* 27**

28 31

Critical engagement in children’s schools Attended advisory meeting at school Attended meeting discussing school improvement

+p =