Migrant Workers Research Paper

Migrant Workers in the United States

For centuries the United States remains to be an ideal country for job opportunities. Therefore, migrants make up a tremendous number of America’s population. Immigrants have significantly impacted many aspects of life in the United States. Migrant workers are spread across the country and continue filling underpaid positions that American citizen would never take. Immigrants are the easiest targets for exploitation; employers continue to take advantage of these illegal workers by hiring them to do unfair laborious and physically demanding jobs. As a result, this is part of the cheap labor of the United States. Human right injustices and manipulation should come to an end. There must be a drastic change

In the article, “Indigenous migrant farmworkers demand change in the fields” by David Bacon, a former coordinator of the Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations, states how he became back angry after going to support the farmers at the Sakuma Farms. He came angry after hearing the discrimination of a family from Oaxaca, Mexico was put through. “Foremen insult workers and call them burros,” he charged. “When you compare people to animals, this is racism. We’re human beings.” But, he cautioned, discrimination involves more than language. “Low Wages are a form of racism, too, because they minimize the work of migrants.” (Bacon 3) Workers are treated poorly based on their legal status and lack of English understanding. They are not only physically abused by being overworked, but they are also verbally abused. Burros meaning donkey, is a degrading and derogatory insult towards the migrant workers. Not only are there ignorant comments but these are also vulgar judgments that leave immigrants without a form of defense due to fear of getting fired of

Employers are able to hire undocumented workers, as the government does not strictly enforce the immigration laws. Workers may be falsely promised high wages to find out later on that they are only being cheated. In the book “Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market” by Eric Schlosser, it tells its readers that keeping workers off the books is the easiest way to reduce labor costs. “Growers are often obligated to pay unemployment taxes and workers’ compensation premiums for each of their employees, in addition to Social Security and Medicare Taxes. Paying an “invisible worker” in cash lowers the cost of that worker by at least 20 percent.” (Schlosser 83) After knowing employers commit these infractions, they may even falsify numbers or hours worked in order to avoid paying any overtime hours. Not only are they violating rules but also they are breaking laws. This is when laws should be enforced to put an end to any abusiveness caused by employers. Employers, who do not pay their workers what they deserve, should be persecuted for theft. Illegal workers should find assistance instead of feeling helpless by letting themselves being grossly taken advantage