Regardless of their numbers, ethnic origin, or destination, immigrants often arrive at America's front door to find the welcome mat missing. The National Immigration Forum reports that, while 50% of native-born Americans think immigration levels are acceptable, 40% think they should decrease and 10% think immigration should stop altogether.2 These well-worn sentiments have forged a long trail of anti-immigrant policies and legislation that spans the four hundred years of America's history.
Even when newcomers are welcome, their presence can challenge the communities where they settle with extra demands on schools, housing, law enforcement and social services. Local governments, particularly in the newer destinations, often lack the basic institutional tools and experience to deal with the infrastructure needs created by the new population, and nongovernmental organizations are either overburdened or simply nonexistent.
Immigrants face challenges as well, struggling to find housing, jobs and a sense of community. In suburban and rural settlement areas, the receiving immigrant populations are small or non-existent and offer few resources for the newcomers. In places such as Farmingville, New York, working conditions in construction, landscaping and other low-skill service jobs are often poor.
To make matters worse, non-English-speaking laborers, such as those depicted in Farmingville, are often the focus of animosity and resentment from anti-immigrant factions, who believe they weaken the "social fabric" of American communities and threaten American jobs. In spite of this, and the difficulties encountered by immigrants and the communities where they live and work, both parties benefit in many ways as well.
Employers need laborers. Without new immigration, the nation's labor force, which has declined steadily since the 1970s, would have grown by only five percent over the past decade and would have experienced seriously constrained job and economic growth.3
The principal attraction for the foreign manual workers is the high wages relative to those back home. The U.S. minimum wage is at least six times greater than the average wage in Mexico, with an even greater disparity to that of Central America. Many U.S. employers pay significantly above the required minimum, which accounts for the fact that even educated and white-collar workers from these sending countries make the trek north to take advantage of the economic opportunities.
A recent article in The Economist summarized the situation as, "The truth about America's immigration muddle is that it suits most people most of the time. Employers — from semiconductor firms to orange growers — get the workers they need, usually fairly cheaply; immigrants make a living and get an education for their children. An illegal farm worker is paid around $7 an hour, half the rate for a legal one, but double what the same worker could get in Central America."4
Next: Farmingville in Context »
Micah Bump is a Research Associate at Georgetown's Institute for the Study of International Migration. His work focuses on new settlement areas, immigrant integration, human trafficking, and remittances.
1 Schmidley, Dianne, 2003. The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: March 2002. Current Population Reports, P20-539, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C.
2 Douglas Rivlin. National Immigration Forum. Interview May 7, 2004.
3Sum, Andrew, Fogg, Neeta, and Harrington, Paul. Immigrant workers and the great American job machine: the contributions of new foreign immigration to national and regional labor force growth in the 1990s.
4 The Economist March 9 2000
Introduction
Most of today's newcomers are Latino in origin, from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Others come from many different countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. While the majority settle in traditional gateway cities with large immigrant communities and a history of employing foreign workers, a growing number are moving into smaller metropolitan areas, rural towns and the suburbs of long-established gateways.
Regardless of their numbers, ethnic origin, or destination, immigrants often arrive at America's front door to find the welcome mat missing. The National Immigration Forum reports that, while 50% of native-born Americans think immigration levels are acceptable, 40% think they should decrease and 10% think immigration should stop altogether.2 These well-worn sentiments have forged a long trail of anti-immigrant policies and legislation that spans the four hundred years of America's history.
Even when newcomers are welcome, their presence can challenge the communities where they settle with extra demands on schools, housing, law enforcement and social services. Local governments, particularly in the newer destinations, often lack the basic institutional tools and experience to deal with the infrastructure needs created by the new population, and nongovernmental organizations are either overburdened or simply nonexistent.
Immigrants face challenges as well, struggling to find housing, jobs and a sense of community. In suburban and rural settlement areas, the receiving immigrant populations are small or non-existent and offer few resources for the newcomers. In places such as Farmingville, New York, working conditions in construction, landscaping and other low-skill service jobs are often poor.
To make matters worse, non-English-speaking laborers, such as those depicted in Farmingville, are often the focus of animosity and resentment from anti-immigrant factions, who believe they weaken the "social fabric" of American communities and threaten American jobs. In spite of this, and the difficulties encountered by immigrants and the communities where they live and work, both parties benefit in many ways as well.
Employers need laborers. Without new immigration, the nation's labor force, which has declined steadily since the 1970s, would have grown by only five percent over the past decade and would have experienced seriously constrained job and economic growth.3
The principal attraction for the foreign manual workers is the high wages relative to those back home. The U.S. minimum wage is at least six times greater than the average wage in Mexico, with an even greater disparity to that of Central America. Many U.S. employers pay significantly above the required minimum, which accounts for the fact that even educated and white-collar workers from these sending countries make the trek north to take advantage of the economic opportunities.
A recent article in The Economist summarized the situation as, "The truth about America's immigration muddle is that it suits most people most of the time. Employers -- from semiconductor firms to orange growers -- get the workers they need, usually fairly cheaply; immigrants make a living and get an education for their children. An illegal farm worker is paid around $7 an hour, half the rate for a legal one, but double what the same worker could get in Central America."4
Next: Farmingville in Context »
Micah Bump is a Research Associate at Georgetown's Institute for the Study of International Migration. His work focuses on new settlement areas, immigrant integration, human trafficking, and remittances.
1 Schmidley, Dianne, 2003. The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: March 2002. Current Population Reports, P20-539, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C.
2 Douglas Rivlin. National Immigration Forum. Interview May 7, 2004.
3Sum, Andrew, Fogg, Neeta, and Harrington, Paul. Immigrant workers and the great American job machine: the contributions of new foreign immigration to national and regional labor force growth in the 1990s.
4The Economist March 9 2000
Farmingville in Context
One highly visible manifestation of the unprecedented growth of the U.S. foreign-born population that occurred during the 1990s is the presence of Latino day laborers. Menial workers from Mexico and Central America represent the greatest number of legal and illegal immigrants coming to America in recent years. In fact, the longest, largest, and most continuous labor migration anywhere in the world is that from Mexico to the United States. An International Herald Tribune article stated in 2003 that "nearly one Mexican in five regularly gets money from relatives employed in the United States, making Mexico the largest repository of such remittances in the world, according to a poll sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank."2
As communities of all sizes struggle to cope with seemingly overnight demographic changes, the issue of Latino day laborers is often seized upon to channel feelings of fear and resentment vis-à-vis community transition. The complaints of lost business, litter, catcalls, and other problems that have arisen in Farmingville are hardly isolated. Across the country, communities both large and small are expressing a need for effective solutions to day labor challenges.
As demonstrated in Farmingville, rapid immigration to local areas can shock communities and lead to significant tension. Since research indicates that immigrants tend to stay in a newly settled area for a long time, the issues need to be addressed, or the situation can explode into a "lose-lose" situation for everyone involved. Comprehensive and collaborative approaches involving all concerned parties are needed to reach successful solutions to day laborer issues on one level, and overall community health on another.
As the documentary "Farmingville" vividly demonstrates, successfully resolving these challenges is by no means easy. Farmingville is not alone in its struggles. San Rafael, California is another community whose efforts to organize and find a solution to day labor issues was derailed when anti-immigrant groups seized upon the situation to promote their larger agendas. With the disputes unresolved, the controversy continues and community tension runs high. This type of community discord is beneficial to no one.
The communities that successfully address the issues related to population change are the ones that accept the fact that the newcomers will most likely become long-term residents. Not only does this allow communities to move ahead in resolving contentious issues, it is also greatly beneficial to their economic and social well-being.
Integration, rather than "inclusion" or "incorporation," usually emphasizes that it is not only immigrants who need and want inclusion, but also the larger society that needs to open up and change to allow them in. This is a two-way process -- and a process that is not about absorption but change.
Multicultural society is a fact of American life. Communities can benefit from their diversity by acknowledging the economic contributions of foreign-born residents, establishing policies that promote their full economic and social potential and stopping barriers to immigrants' integration.
Integration really entails several different activities:
- Formal, rather than clandestine, inclusion in the labor market;
- Inclusion in mainstream institutions and activities that meet individual and
societal needs -- education, health and social care, housing; - Inclusion in the institutions and obligations of civic society;
- Building good community relations and trust.
Micah Bump is a Research Associate at Georgetown's Institute for the Study of International Migration. His work focuses on new settlement areas, immigrant integration, human trafficking, and remittances.
1 Schmidley, Dianne, 2003. "The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: March 2002." Current Population Reports, P20-539, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C.
2 Thompson, Ginger. 2003. "Money from U.S. sustains Mexico -- Relatives' payments help support 25% of citizens, poll finds." International Herald Tribune, October 29, 2003.
Historical Background
The roots of today's new settlement patterns are complex. The construction booms and the proliferation of hotels and restaurants that accompanied the 1990s economic boom increased the demand for low-wage labor. US employers encouraged the migration of foreign workers, and immigrants responded. During 1996-2000, the US labor force expanded by 6.7 million people. Foreign-born workers comprised nearly half of the labor force increase. Male foreign-born workers accounted for almost two-thirds, and female foreign-born workers accounted for more than a third of the increase.2
Also, during the 1980s, several corporate giants emerged in the processing of beef, pork, chicken, and fish. These industries began to relocate from the North Central states to the South and South Central and some Eastern seaboard states to be closer to the feedlots and to employ non-union, low-wage laborers.3 Located in small, rural communities with little local labor, processing companies recruited immigrant workers from California and Texas, as well as directly from Mexico and Central America. Communities such as Rogers, Arkansas or Winchester, Virginia now have sizeable immigrant populations and the in-flow of immigrants is directly related to the food-processing industry. Today, active recruitment is often not needed because immigrant networks draw newcomers, often encouraged by hiring bonuses for friends and relatives.
Outside of construction, food processing, and manufacturing, new settlement areas are found in agricultural regions, particularly in areas specializing in crops that are labor intensive to grow and/or harvest. Again, the forces that have driven this process are complex. Growers of labor-intensive crops have cast a broader net to find workers, and there has also been a heretofore unprecedented "settling out" of new immigrants into new destinations. The "Latinization" of agriculture has occurred in the apple groves of Washington State; the mushroom sheds of New England; the grape and row crops of southern California and the orange groves of southern Florida.4 Immigration is now more than ever a national phenomenon.
Micah Bump is a Research Associate at
Georgetown's Institute for the Study of International Migration. His
work focuses on new settlement areas, immigrant integration, human
trafficking, and remittances.
1 Schmidley, Dianne, 2003. "The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: March 2002." Current Population Reports, P20-539, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C.
2 Mosisa, Abraham T. 2002 "The role of foreign-born workers in the U.S. economy," Monthly Labor Review.
3 Broadway, Michael and Ward, Terry. Recent Changes in the Structure and Location of the U.S. Meatpacking Industry.
4 Taylor, Edward J., Martin, Phil L., and Fix, Michael. Poverty amid Prosperity: Immigration and the Changing Face of Rural California.
FAQ: Day Labor in NY
Who are day laborers?
Day laborers are overwhelmingly Latino; one-third from Mexico, another third from the rest of Central America, and the final third including workers from South America. Most are also young, recent arrivals (less than two years) in the United States. About half of day laborers are single. However, an almost equal number (47 percent) have a spouse or are living with someone they support. While Latinos do comprise the majority of the day laborer population, the number of African day laborers has been increasing. A significant number of day laborers are educated. Their educational attainment ranges from no formal education to college and beyond, with the mean number of years in school hovering around eight. Almost a third (30 percent) have over ten years of formal schooling.
Who is an immigrant?
A foreign-born individual, who has been admitted to reside permanently in the United States as a Lawful Permanent Resident.
How do immigrants get admitted to permanently reside here?
Typically, a foreign-born individual seeking to become a Lawful Permanent Resident can do so in one of three ways:
- Through family-sponsored immigration, a U.S. citizen can sponsor his or her foreign-born spouse, parent (if the sponsor is over the age of 21), minor and adult married and unmarried children, and brothers and sisters. A Lawful Permanent Resident can sponsor his or her spouse, minor children, and adult unmarried children.
- Through employment-based immigration, a U.S. employer can sponsor an individual for a specific position where there is a demonstrated absence of U.S. workers.
- By winning one of a limited number of immigrant visas available in the annual diversity visa lottery that is open to would-be immigrants from certain countries.
Who is a non-immigrant?
A non-immigrant is an individual who is permitted to enter the US for a period of limited duration, such as, students, tourists, temporary workers, business executives, diplomats, artists and entertainers, and reporters. Depending on where they are from and the purpose of their visit, non-immigrants may be required to apply for and obtain a visa from the US government. All non-immigrants--regardless of whether they have a US visa--must also pass immigration inspection upon arrival in the US.
What are the earnings of day labor?
In New York, day labor work pays better than minimum wage, but such labor is difficult, irregular, and often dangerous.2 The average hourly wage ($9.37) for day labor work is about $4.22 more than the New York and federal minimum wage during normal demand conditions (i.e., spring and summer months). During the off-peak winter months, this figure drops to $7.61 or $2.46 more than the minimum wage.
Average monthly wages vary for day laborers depending on seasonal periods and demand. During a good month, day laborers on average earn $1,450. During a bad month, they earn on average about $500.
Day labor work is a full-time endeavor. Eighty-three percent of all day laborers work in this market full time; the other seventeen percent hold a part time job that on average occupies about 27 hours of their workweek (Monday - Sunday).
What kind of work do day laborers do?
Day laborers perform a wide variety of jobs, including dirty and/or dangerous tasks that might expose them to chemical wastes and other occupational hazards. They primarily work in the construction industry, including painting, carpentry, and landscape.
Why work day labor?
In New York, day labor is often a stepping-stone to full-time/ yearlong employment for workers. Despite earning low wages, many day laborers assist family members or friends in their country-of-origin in a significant way. In 2001, day laborers sent an average of nine payments (called remittances) amounting to a yearly total of $3,641.
Who hires day laborers?
Attracted by the low cost of the labor and lack of responsibility for benefits or ongoing employment -- and sometimes because they simply cannot find anyone else to hire -- homeowners and contractors are the primary employers of day laborers. Each group accounts for more than 41 percent of day labor employment opportunities with contractors representing more than half of all employers.
What are the risks of day labor?
Day laborers are routinely abused at the work place. About half of all day laborers report at least one instance of non-payment of wages. Other types of employer abuses include paying less than the agreed upon amount, no workers compensation or medical insurance provided for job-related injuries or illnesses, being abandoned at work site, bad checks (NSF) in payment for work undertaken, no breaks or water at the work site, robbery, and threats.
What percentage of day laborers are documented?
Approximately 81% of day laborers are undocumented immigrants. When asked about barriers to employment they encountered, day laborers responded 31.3% because of lack of documents and 34.7% lack of English proficiency.
What are the legal rights of an undocumented day laborer?
The majority of employment and labor law protections apply to workers regardless of immigration status. This includes rights to file wage and hour complaints, report health and safety violations or access workers' compensation benefits.
Would day laborers like to seek permanent residency if they could?
In the New York survey of day laborers, more than an a third believed they qualify for permanent residency -- of those, 32% intend to apply for permanent residency.
What is the gender breakdown of day laborers?
In New York 94.8% are men and 5.2% are women. Men primarily work in the construction industry. Women work as housekeepers, janitors, and factory workers.
The above questions and answers come in most part from Valenzuela, Jr., Abel and Melendez Edwin. 2003. "Day Labor in New York: Findings from the New York Day Labor Survey." New York. April 11, 2003.
1 Schmidley, Dianne, 2003. "The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: March 2002." Current Population Reports, P20-539, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C.
2 The data regarding day laborers here primarily concerns state and local arenas, as national statistics about day laborers are currently lacking. Neighborhood Funders Group plans to release a study about national immigrant worker centers in Summer 2004.