Land of Opportunity, Land of Exploitation

By Yazmin Perez / Fall 2020

M​y parent's dream was always to come to the United States, for the same reasons, many others come "A better life" and "Better opportunities." My family and I immigrated from Mexico in 1999; I was three years old. I cannot remember how we entered, or even the life back in Mexico. All I can recall are memories from being in the United States. As a child, my mom would always tell me how fortunate we were to have come to this country. She would often share her stories with me from Mexico, where she described her life filled with poverty, no academic or career opportunities, and on some days, barely having enough to eat. My parents' town was impoverished; they got paid what is equivalent to $1- 2 American dollars if they could find work. They often had to look for work outside of their town and pay for the commute, which was not worth it since the commute itself was as much as they made in one day. They always heard that the United States was better and had many employment opportunities. They were desperate to come to the United States with high hopes of feeding their family. ​People often ask, “why can’t they just do it the right way and wait in line, like everyone else? ” The reality is, there is no line. People have to have a lawful reason to enter the United States, and most often get petitioned by a family member, employment, or through immigration reform. ​My parents could not afford to do things the “right way” because they lived in severe poverty; they needed to find employment immediately to survive.

My dad came to the United States first; my mom came once my dad had established work. My mom had the most challenging responsibility, making sure my brother and I crossed over safely. ​When I begin to analyze their journey, it's unbelievable how many risks and sacrifices it took my family to get here. They left their entire family, giving them the false hope of "someday" returning. Since leaving Mexico, my family has been unable to go back for over 20 years. If they do go back, upon returning, they will face harsher challenges. Such as the chance of being caught by Immigration Customs Enforcement or not making it back. “Since 1994, it is estimated that more than 5,000 migrants have died in the desert attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico and that one migrant dies every day” (Jimenez, 2009). ​​Not to mention all the costs and money they would have to come up with. Sadly, if they don’t make it back to the United States, they go back to the life they immigrated from.

Once in the United States, I remember my parents struggled to pay rent for most of my childhood; we mainly lived renting rooms with other families because that is all we could afford. I was little and didn't have anything to compare my life to; I thought it was customary to live that way. I also remember moving around a lot. The first room we lived in was so small, we barely fit. It was also infested with bugs, and the landlord wouldn't do anything about it, so we decided to move. Our second room was also small. We lived in the house's smallest space, where we all shared one bed, two adults and three kids. Eventually, the owner decided to sell his house; we had to move out within a week. My parents had no idea where to go and how to move within a week. My mom told a close friend, and she offered to let us stay in her garage. We stayed there for roughly a year. Thinking back, I was only a child; I didn't realize how bad it was. My mom became closer to our local church, and the church became aware of our living situation. They helped find us low-income apartments available to agriculture/day laborers. We applied; I was about six years old when we moved to our first apartment.

It took me a while to understand why our life was so rough. Eventually, I started picking up on things my mom would say that I didn't understand. When I asked about traveling, she would say, "no, we can't leave,” or “we won't be able to come back." Things that didn't make sense to me. I always felt out of place because I started socializing more and realized that my friends would go on vacations, the mall, and spots my parents never could take us. I didn't feel angry about it, just confused and left out. It wasn't until I got older that I realized my parents, brother, and I were living undocumented. Everything kind of made sense at that point; we were and still live among the shadows of society. We have been living like this for years and don't know when it will come to an end.

My parents have spent more than 20 years in the United States without any benefits. When I think back at why we lived in those rooms, it was because my dad didn't make enough money. He is a day laborer, and there were days he couldn't find any work. My dad also doesn't have a social security number; it’s not like he could apply for one either. It wasn't until I got older that I realized the labor system in America used my parents for cheap labor. “While most undocumented workers find employers ready and willing to hire them, and rights are made available to them, they are fundamentally restricted from living or working in the United States” (Gleeson, 562). Although employed in the United States, my parents couldn't afford to take a day off to be with us because they would make less than minimum wage. They couldn’t stop working. “Immigrants have been documented to receive lower pay compared to similar legal workers'' (Rivera-Baitiz, 92). In her research, Rivera-Baitiz confirms that “On an hourly basis, male Mexican legal immigrants in the United States earned 41.8% more than undocumented workers while female legal immigrants earned 40.8% more” (Rivera-Baitiz, 111). Many people assume that immigrants come to the U.S to take employment from others; however, the country employs many undocumented immigrants for work, mostly work that no one else wants to do, yet continued to be underpaid.

Even if others had those jobs, they would require and demand benefits, such as health insurance, safe working conditions, social security, paid sick leave, etc. These are benefits that most immigrants do not get. An example of this is my father. As a day laborer, he has worked in the U.S. for many years. Since being in the United States, he has paid taxes and has never received a tax return. He will never receive social security benefits because he doesn't have one; he has never had health insurance, vacation, or paid sick days. There are many other benefits he can never take advantage of because he is undocumented. I highlight my father as an example because even though he cannot receive any help, he is still grateful for his job. This man has devoted his labor to the U.S. for years, yet, he remains viewed as an "immigrant taking advantage of the U.S.." Many argue that people like my father are no good for this country and should be deported. Yet they're okay with using people like him for the country's benefit?

American employers take advantage of undocumented immigrants because of their legal status, language, and culturally different background. Those who don’t speak English, like my father, often have a more challenging time standing up for themselves. My father is also unaware of labor laws that protect him against employers who do not want to pay him. “It is clear that immigrant workers, like the low-wage worker, often lack sufficient knowledge about the laws governing work in America. Language barriers and lack of culturally appropriate information intensify this barrier” (Gleeson, 562). Immigrants may often be taken advantage of more easily because of insufficient knowledge and have no resources to report it. They may also not want to report it due to fear.

My parents have always been content with the work they have. They have such a grateful mentality for just being able to work in America. They do not realize they are being underpaid and don't even receive human benefits like healthcare. Ever since I can recall, I have never heard them complain; they have an "it's better than nothing" attitude. But. . how can anyone be OK with this? I always question why America is OK with paying undocumented immigrants under the table for cheap labor and keeping them quiet because of their legal status. Still, why is it not OK to let them live in the U.S. decently or at least work and receive the same benefits everyone else gets? This country is still being built and restored by undocumented immigrants. Many people that work building houses, construction of roads, landscaping, etc., are jobs that most undocumented immigrants get. Why not just let them be in the county? They contribute just as much to these jobs; where they came from and their legal status should not matter.

Although the United States has always had a tough stance on immigration law, immigrants face a much harsher view today. My family is not new to being discriminated against by harsh immigration laws. Nonetheless, through the years, these immigration laws have become more brutal and intimidating. It will take many years, and also not guaranteed that immigration reform will happen. We will continuously live in fear, thinking when our families’ will be separated. One would think that a country built by slavery and labor exploitation would be open to having undocumented immigrants work in the country. However, America is a very controversial country in putting many barriers for undocumented immigrants to live and work decently. As authors ​Zopoth and Schenck describe, “On the one hand, we pride ourselves on our heritage as a nation of immigrants, as a refuge for "huddled masses yearning to breathe free." On the other hand, our laws have often manifested other, less generous themes-occasionally even outright hostility-in the nation's response to migration” (352). I often think about the reasons why Americans have these controversies towards immigrants. Every day, I think about how life-changing it would be if we had immigration reform and how much relief it would give undocumented immigrants. However, I also believe that reform may not be enough. America has been conditioned to think that people of color are the minority. However, “reform is not enough, because the system is not “broken;” it is designed to uphold white supremacy”(Erfani, 2020). This is the deeper problem in America to maintain social hierarchy and white supremacy. As author Erfani describes, “today, the U.S. deportation machine disproportionately detains and deports ​Black immigrants​. This administration has further ​advanced​ European immigration while denouncing Latin American and African nations as “​s----hole​” countries that send “rapists” and “criminals.” ​President Trump has made xenophobic statements about immigrants and has continued to portray them as a threat to the country. Due to this, there has been more hate directed towards undocumented immigrants. Since Trump's presidency, immigrants have faced more significant backlash and harsher penalties for being undocumented. “​In April 2018, the Trump administration announced a so-called “zero-tolerance” policy on unauthorized immigration. Under this policy, each and every migrant – including asylum seekers – attempting to cross the U.S. border anywhere other than at an official port of entry was to be detained and criminally prosecuted” (Refugees International). This policy is cruel and inhumane; under this policy, every undocumented immigrant is a priority. Whereas before, undocumented immigrants who had committed serious crimes were a focus to be deported.

Society should be concerned with the amount of hate that is directed to them. In 2019, there was a mass shooting in Texas, where the gunman expressed his hatred for immigrants and anti-Hispanics. That incident was very memorable for me because my family and I could have been targets. I also think, what can stop someone else from repeating this? I started thinking about all the hate crimes in America towards immigrants and how the country's leadership has played a part in these events. I cannot help but be angry that we have dealt with some of the same discriminatory issues and harsh immigration laws for years. We have yet to see a positive change in immigration laws.

The following is a table that illustrates the most commonly heard implications undocumented immigrants receive. Instead of judging undocumented immigrants and having a negative implicit bias towards them, society should receive more insight into undocumented immigrants’ lives.

Aside from looking at the facts, I would highly recommend people should watch “30 Days- 201: “Immigration.” This video shows insight on a minuteman who has been against illegal immigration and is an advocate for doing things the “right way” just like he was able to. He moves in with an undocumented family and sees first hand the daily challenges they have to go through. One of the biggest highlights for me in this episode was that he works as a day laborer and realizes how hard they work with very little pay. Frank, the minuteman, realizes employers profit off undocumented immigrants’ labor since they don’t have to pay him as much as a legal citizen. The video gives a realistic insight into undocumented immigrants’ lives and shows the reality of how life is in Mexico. He admits that if living there, he would want to leave as soon as he got the opportunity to do so.

If more people understood our situation’s reality, they would realize that doing things the “right way” isn’t always an option. They would also see the challenges immigrants face when working and living in the United States. No human being deserves to fear for their life or be discriminated against solely for not being born in America. There is no way to justify the unnoticed labor of undocumented immigrants.

Works Cited

Androff, David K., and Kyoko Y. Tavassoli. “Deaths in the Desert: The Human Rights Crisis on the U.S.—Mexico Border.” ​Social Work,​ vol. 57, no. 2, 2012, pp. 165–173. Accessed 20 Dec. 2020.

Azadeh Erfani. “Beyond Solidarity: 3 Reasons Why the Fight against White Supremacy Is an Immigrant Rights Priority.” ​National Immigrant Justice Center.

Gleeson, Shannon. “Labor Rights for All? The Role of Undocumented Immigrant Status for Worker Claims Making.” ​Law & Social Inquiry,​ vol. 35, no. 3, 2010, pp. 561–602. ​JSTOR​. Accessed 20 Dec. 2020.

Hudson, Irene Zopoth, and Susan Schenck. ​America: Land of Opportunity or Exploitation?​, vol. 19, no. 2, 2002, pp. 351–388.

Rivera-Batiz, Francisco L. “Undocumented Workers in the Labor Market: An Analysis of the Earnings of Legal and Illegal Mexican Immigrants in the United States.” ​Journal of Population Economics​, vol. 12, no. 1, 1999, pp. 91–116. ​JSTOR,. Accessed 20 Dec. 2020.

The Economic Blame Game: Immigration and Unemployment. (2013, June).

Twohig, Niall. “ Constructing a Social Matrix” Zoom. Day 4, Lecture.