Immigration: Exploitation or Not - Research Paper Example

Migration: exploitation or not 0 Introduction The migrant worker is not a creation of the twentieth century. Men and women have been leaving theirmother countries and seeking employment in another country ever since pay for labor was introduced. Today however, there are a great deal more migrant workers than in any past periods of human history, which some theorists refer to as the third wave of globalization; the first and second waves being trade – the passage of goods, and finance – the passage of money (De Parle, 1). There is a difference however between the three movements, trade and finance are controlled and regulated by global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) but migration in comparison remains unregulated at a global level and rules are made by individual countries and states. The International organization for Migration (IOM) states that over the last decade the number of international migrants across the globe has risen from an estimated 150 million to 214 million today, which translates to one out of every thirty three people in the world today is a migrant. In the US alone 1,130,818 legal permanent residency visas were issued in 2009 (Office of Immigration Statistics, 10), while the estimated number of illegal immigrants residing in the US in January 2009 was 10.8 million (Hoefer, Rytina and Baker, 1). The notion of immigrant workers doing the jobs nobody else wants, reverberates throughout American culture; the aim of this empirical descriptive study is not to provide answers but to find out how things are by gathering knowledge on whether such a notion is being intensified by employers in the US, and whether employers are taking advantage of the current social situation of migrants by providing lower wages and working conditions. This paper will begin with a literature review that will gather information on the current profile of immigrants in America and a brief summary of sociological theories pertaining to immigration: a summary of empirical studies pertaining to the exploitation and discrimination of migrants within the US workforce will conclude the literature review. The methodology, findings and analysis of a small phenomenological study pertaining to four migrants working in San Francisco will then be presented in order to provide primary data to the study and to include real and actual accountings that provide the essence of the experiences of migrants in the US. 2.0 Literature review 2.1 Present profile of migrants in US The US today has more residents born overseas than any other country in the world and triple the number in Russia which is in second place; America also has more illegal residents than any other country (Martin and Midgley,1); Asians and Hispanic are the predominant races that are altering the demographic composition of the country. Statistics also show that 20% of the world’s migrants live in America and an average of 104,000 foreigners arrive in the US every day, of which an average of 3,100 have or will receive immigrant visas to stay in America (Martin and Midgley, 4); on top of that there are an estimated 2000 illegal foreigners arriving every day too. Over the last decade most immigrants have been of Asian or Hispanic descent with 20% of the current population of 310 million being Hispanic or Asian (Martin and Midgley, 5). It is estimated that at the same rate of growth the Hispanic and Asian population will account for one-third of the total US population (Martin and Midgely, 5). Many of the illegal immigrants from Central America are coming by way of Mexico; mostly uneducated, they move north into Mexico to find work and finding none they travel further north into the US. An estimated 375,000 illegal immigrants are crossing over the border from Mexico into the US every year and 31% of them are from countries other than Mexico (Skinner, 3). This current profile of migrants in America is the basis on which the participants for this study were chosen: Hispanic and Asian. 2.2 Sociological theories of migration Research provides a number of sociological theories that account for the whys and know-hows of immigration and this section will provide a brief synopsis of a few of them. The Neo-classical economic theory, for example, focuses on economic factors to account for global migration, and is based on the factors of supply and demand (Oishi, 4). Those purporting this theory claim that discrimination is evident in the workplace because of government interference with market processes and that antidiscrimination laws impact negatively on market efficiency (Epstein, 92). Proponents of the structural theory consider international migration as a means of exploitation of developing countries by developed countries. They claim workers in developing countries are wrenched into sub-standard working environments in more industrialised countries (Oishi, 5). Another sociological theory that focuses on immigration is the household strategy theory, wherein the belief is that migration decisions are made by households rather than by individuals; in other words people act collectively to keep the risk factor low and maximise possible income (Oishi, 6). The final theory to be presented her is the network theory, which “attributes migration process to personal, cultural, and/or other social ties” (Oishi, 8). Information is said to be provided within countries of potential migrants by their family and friends who have already emigrated; in other words by word of mouth. The family and friends of new immigrants within the host country, such as the US, usually help the new immigrants to find residence and employment. In many cases today however, employers use this same networking system as a source of cheap labour (Saucedo, 977). 2.3 Summary of empirical studies A widespread tendency is to regard migrants as a complementary labour force, and to assign them to the jobs which have the least attraction for nationals. Many employers seek an unending supply of “flexible labour” (Jaynes, 5) for jobs that native workers will not do. They prefer to pay lower wages for immigrants and thus make more profit, and because immigrants have little bargaining power they usually receive worse conditions. Research suggests that notions such as gender and race are paramount to the way in which migrants are matched to jobs, as well as on the sway of the opinion and action of employers (Fernandez and Mors, 1061). According to Lopez-Sanders (5) the labor market is impelled by both workers’ own ranking of jobs (job queues) and the ranking of jobs by employers (labor queues) and that any study that focuses on only one side is not complete. Some studies, such as that by and Waldinger and Lichter (238), claim the labor queues are a series of factors that are ordered and have impact on the segregation of the labor market. Lopez-Sanders (5) further claims that although studies have been able to shed light on aspects upon which employer preferences are placed, as well as on the ethnic makeup of the labor force, they do not account for the way in which differing groups are allotted within a labor hierarchy. Newly arrived Latino immigrants, often referred to as “brown collar” workers (Catanzarite, 300), are usually employed in jobs with an overrepresentation of Latinos, encounter work segregations, wage penalties and lower wages because of their workplace status (Catanzarite, 301). They accept the poor workplace conditions not just for fear of losing their job but for fear of deportation of themselves or of other members of their family. Saucedo (968) tells us that under present immigration laws it is nigh impossible for newly arrived immigrants to obtain legal status due to quota restrictions and the fact that once considered illegal their status cannot be upgraded. Saucedo also claims that because of the perception created by government that immigrant workers have minimal rights they are afraid of “rocking the boat” and thus remain silent in their ordeals (968). This is in turn creates the perception they are subservient which then provides a means of categorization by employers - employers have pre-conceived ideas of subservience based on the workers’ social situation (Saucedo, 970). This means that whether the workers are newly arrived immigrants, legally or illegally, or native born immigrants, they are all treated the same by employers and the discriminatory workplace ethics affect all Latinos, no matter their legal status (Saucedo, 970), and are employed to fill the unwanted jobs. It hides the real power that employers have to initiate such jobs and hone in on Latino immigrants to fill them; in other words the employers can select their preferred ethnicity, and by choosing Latinos or other newly arrived immigrants they can automatically set lower pay rates and conditions and rely on their own workforce to supply additional workers when needed (Malamud, 335). The justification for such processes is placed on the perception that immigrants are willing to work under such conditions, when in reality they do not really want these jobs, but because of a lack of recognition within the legal system employers are able to misuse and manipulate the system. Most Asian immigrants come to America for economic reasons, and about 10% of the population of the Philippines live outside the country (Marin, 1). Like other immigrants in America they experience exploitation, discrimination and abuse with very limited access to either social or legal protection. Women account for almost half the number of Philippines leaving their home country and most find work as domestic laborers or nannies within an unprotected area. Many of these domestic workers “experience specific gender-related vulnerabilities, such as sexual and physical abuse” (Marin, 2). The information gathered within the literature review helps set the scene for the following phenomenological study that aims to determine the actual experiences of four immigrants, of either Hispanic or Asian descent and working in San Francisco. 3.0. Methodology This section describes the methods used to conduct the research; it begins with an overview of the phenomenological approach to research, which is deemed the most suitable method for obtaining data for the research question, followed by details of the process used for the selection of subjects, the data collection and analysis; and the ethical considerations for the research. 3.1 Overview of Phenomenological Research Phenomenological studies, founded within the discipline of philosophy and as the term implies, are concerned with the study of phenomena such as specific experiences or events and their existence as they emerge in a holistic manner; in other words they attempt to describe, explain and ascertain the impact of a particular phenomena (Hancock, 4), usually by means of in-depth interviews or observation, wherein the researcher becomes engrossed in the phenomena. The participants or subjects are considered familiar and informed, and join in mutual dialogue with the researcher. Researchers using phenomenological methods are not usually interested in the experiences of one person but are more concerned with shared or similar experiences among individuals. Their aim is to determine and identify with the subjective thought processes of the people experiencing the phenomenon and the effect it has on the behavior of those people. 3.2 Participant Selection With the help of friends and family the researcher was introduced to a number of migrants working within the local community or other communities nearby. Of those that were willing to assist in the study four were selected based on gender (2 male and 2 female), so that comparisons and contrasts of the data could be made between genders; one male and one female Latino from Peru and Columbia, and two Asians from the Philippines. Some researchers using a qualitative approach do not necessarily determine the size of the sample prior to the study but allow its establishment when an oversupply of data is gathered. A sample group of four however, was decided on for this research based on time constraints and monetary costs. 3.3 Data Collection Data was gathered by means of individual interviews with the participants. Interviews were conducted in the home of each participant in an attempt to keep the environment conducive to such a self revealing process; participants should be more relaxed and feel at ease in their own homes and thus more likely to provide true and subjective information or essence of their experiences. Interviewing in their homes also provided the opportunity for observation and provided a more holistic view. Interviews were audio-taped on request of the participants and took the form of in-depth, semi-structured interviews; prompt questions were necessary to guide the interview and were devised in accordance with ideas from previous studies found in the literature review and relevant to the questions formulated for this research. Each interview lasted around one hour. Notes were taken in the interview and additional more reflective notes were made after the interview in an effort to record the milieu of the interviews and what was being learnt or ascertained from the data, as well as to record the researcher’s own preconceptions of, and thoughts and feelings experienced during the interview process. Participants were interviewed twice; the first interview elicited data in relation to their personal situation and experiences as a migrant coming to America and their work situation at present; a second interview was conducted after analysis of data as a means of clarification of any misunderstandings and elaboration on any specific points that were required. 3.4 Data Analysis Interviews were transcribed and the transcriptions used for data analysis. Transcriptions were read line by line and segmented and coded (by way of induction). Master lists of coding were maintained and used, lists of significant and pertinent statements were prepared separating male and female participants for further analysis, and common themes emerging from the invariant structures (Johnson & Christensen, 465) of the experiences of each individual participant were extracted. 3.5 Validity and Reliability Validity and reliability of the data was attained by means of participant feedback wherein interpretations and conclusions made by the researcher were verified, as well as reflexivity wherein the researcher reflected on any predispositions or latent bias (Golafshani, 599). 3.6 Ethical Considerations Ethical considerations were in accordance with the American Educational Research Association (AERA) guidelines. 4.0 Findings and analysis The interviews provided a wealth of information in relation to individual experiences of migrants and the reasons they came to America, as well as the difficulties encountered on getting here and after their arrival. Only minimal data will be discussed in this paper due to word restrictions and time constraints, so it is not possible to give a true phenomenological accounting of the interviews. Instead findings and discussion will focus on workplace similarities evident between the participants, and any differences encountered in the workplace between the men and the women. Major themes that were evident across all interviews were ascertained and extracted from the interviews, and are indicated in Table 1, along with specific utterances pertaining to those categories. Table 1: Predominant categories within interviews Category Statements or utterances Work in home country I had my own shop in Mexico … I was my own boss. Me… I had a good job. I was a nurse. No. not just a nurse a higher nurse… a sister. After study I became an assistant … a personal assistant to a big boss in a department store. I was employed as a primary school teacher in my own country. Work in US Now I have to work for others … take orders I work on a factory line… A nanny, looking after three kids Here I cannot find a job as a teacher so I work in a factory. Impact of work on self esteem Now I’m on the bottom of the line. I feel so useless … I feel very small I’m too scared to say anything in case I bring eyes on myself … don’t want any eyes on me. My self worth has diminished very much. Impact of work on personal/family life I don’t have much time with my family. My smallest child sometimes doesn’t know me. It isn’t easy to work and look after my family .. I get so tired. I can’t spend as much time with my family as I used to. Wage imbalance Most of us are immigrants so we all get low wages. My friends told me we get less than the negroes working here. I think coz we’re like the least … the bottom .. we don’t get much .. lots less than others. Even though I have a degree from my country I do not get any more money than those who were farmers. There is much discrimination in my job. Gender imbalance I know a guy who does the same as me and gets much more. The boss always smiles but not nice smiles at me .. I don’t like it .. he make me feel dirty. Some of the women have to work more hours if they want the same pay as the men. All four participants were employed in a higher status job in their home country – one man from Peru was self employed and now working in a factory; the other male, from the Philippines was a primary school teacher but now also working in a factory; the woman from the Philippines was a nurse (sister) within a local hospital but now working as a nanny looking after three children; the last of the four, a female from Colombia worked in an office as a secretary but was now also working in a factory. All had had no choice but to take any job they could find once in America, but none of them encountered much difficulty in attaining a job because all were helped by friends, who told their employers that they were looking for work. The woman from the Philippines working as a nanny appeared to be more assimilated into American society than the other three interviewees; although she did not really want to be a nanny she did not mind it too much because she liked the children. What she didn’t like however, was that her employers kept telling her to do more things in the house and work longer hours but did not offer any extra pay. When asked whether she had raised the subject with them she retracted and looked surprised that such a question could be asked. After a while she responded, not in these words but by stating that it was not her place to raise the issue of wages with her employer and that she should wait for them to offer. She was also not happy because she had a daughter of her own, who a friend’s mother was taking care of, and she could not spend much time with her, or her husband. It was obvious the second female interviewee from Colombia, possessed a very outgoing personality that was restrained. It was apparent in her eyes and at times in her enthusiasm and mannerisms but each time she relaxed and exuded such a personality she appeared to intentionally take stock and control herself. When asked about this observation she first denied it but later in conversation it became evident that she was intentionally filtering her personality in order to prevent any misunderstanding or misconstruence of her intensions. Later it was revealed that her employee had been sexually harassing her and claimed that she was leading him on, so it was her intention to try to subdue her natural traits and personality so that she would not find herself in the same situation again. In terms of workplace discrimination she received less pay than other male Latinos and even less than any Asian women or women of other nationalities working in the factory; she also had to work long hours and at times had to do double shifts. She dare not say anything about the situation for fear of losing her job and then having no income at all. The man from the Philippines working in the factory was the most educated of the four and was a primary school teacher in his home country. He had the best command of English and at times was quite verbose in his responses; he was very open to all questions and compliant in providing answers from the outset of the interview. It was apparent that within his job he felt he was belittled and was often the brunt of ridicule from his employers and other employees – both Latino and Negroes. He felt his self esteem was being undermined and he was losing his self worth, not only because of the exploitation and discrimination suffered at work but also because he felt he had become lesser in the eyes of his wife and children. He could not provide them with all they wanted and he felt guilty and responsible for this and the fact he could not spend as much time with them as he did before coming to America. He spoke of the discrimination not only against him but against others in the workplace, relaying that the Latinos seem to pick on the Asians, while many of the Asians treated the Latinos with contempt, and the Negros treated both the Latinos and the Asians with disdain. Those worst off in all of this were the women, who apart from suffering along with the men in accordance to her ethnicity, also suffered because they were women and treated as subordinate to all men of whatever ethnicity. The second man from Peru, like two other interviewees, was working in a factory. He seemed quite angry with the world and iterated his disappointment in coming to America; he possessed the dream of finding gold in America only to arrive and find himself at the bottom of the pecking order, working in a factory long hours for little pay and losing touch with his family. Although he appeared quite forthright in his beliefs and not hesitant in putting them on the table within the interview, he made it very clear that outside of his home he would not say anything to anyone about anything, especially at work and especially to his employers. He knew he was earning under award wages and working longer hours but was not willing to raise the issue with anyone for fear of losing what little he was earning. In order to determine further similarities between the interviewees an analysis was made in order to match words or synonyms that were evident within the interviews of all four participants. Some words matched across two or three of the interviews but only those evident across all four are provided in Diagram 1; all of which pertained to the workplace. Diagram 1: Most common words (or synonyms for these words) found within all four interviews Such findings indicate that all interviewees were working within an environment rife with exploitation and discrimination. All were required to work long hours for little pay and all felt they were at the bottom of the social hierarchy, whether Latino or Asian, and suffered ridicule and verbal abuse; all claimed they could not or would not stand up to their employer/s in relation to any of these issues. 5.0 Discussion In accordance with the sociological network theory, it seems the networking system within specific ethnic groups is evident in San Francisco and employers are able to cut costs on advertising for workers by waiting for new arrivals, knowing that their vacancies would be filled easily by word of mouth. All interviewees gained employment via friends or relatives already working. So it seems that some employers prefer to discriminate by creating jobs for those they perceive as subservient, and are thus nurturing the ethnicity of their workforce by means of word of mouth recruitment rather more ethical means and allowing them to foster below standard wages and working conditions. It also seems that immigrants working within these companies have nowhere to go for assistances for fear of legal reprisal. It follows therefore that the four interviewees are feeding the demand of unscrupulous employers within the US and are thus a cheap and subservient, and seemingly ever increasing supply of cheap labor to this demand; such a chain of supply and demand mirrors the neo-classical theory based on economics and further validates their reasoning that government interference creates negative effects. US anti-discrimination laws appear to be a veil under which employers can hide and thus perpetuate their processes of exploitation and discrimination of immigrants. Findings from this study also validate the fact that female immigrants are suffering even further levels of discriminations and exploitation, including sexual harassment, in the workforce and in the case of the Philippine nurse now working as a nanny for a white middle class family there are additional problems in that she works in a home rather than a workplace and is therefore not under the jurisdiction of US anti-discrimination laws. 6.0 Conclusion This study describes the experiences of four immigrants, two from the Philippines one from Columbia and one from Peru. The findings are not conducive to a country claiming to provide a better life of opportunity for migrants; evidence here shows they enter a life of subservience, discrimination, exploitation and segregation, with women suffering even more in terms of sexual harassment. It seems the anti-discrimination laws are working against immigrants and that employers are able to use them as means to their own unprincipled and exploitative way of gaining a cheap and subservient labour force. References Catanzarite, L. “Dynamics of segregation and earnings in brown-collar occupations”. Work and Occupations, Vol. 29 (3) pp. 300-345. 2002. Epstein, R.A. Forbidden grounds: The case against employment discrimination laws. US: Harvard College. 1992. Fernandez, R. M. and Mors, M.L. "Gendering jobs: networks and queues in the hiring process." Social Science Research 37. pp. 1061-1080. 2008. On-line. 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