Chen1

Yiming Chen

Professor Lookholder

Sociology 1

August 13, 2017

The Sociological Implications of the American Perception of Undocumented Workers

In the United States alone there are over six million people in illegal employment. These

workers labor in gathering, advantage, advancement, food preparation and agriculture. These

workers are consistently paid extremely low wages and some are not even paid. They labor in

hazardous conditions, encounter the dangerous impact of isolation and, if they are hurt at work,

they are not compensated for their injuries. Undocumented experts are as frequent as laborers

whose visas have ended or who have entered the country illegally whilst searching for a better

life. Coincidentally, they are up until now secured by US worker laws, according to which they

should not be subject to the abuses they regularly receive. There has been a long-standing

struggle about the treatment of undocumented workers, but their mistreatment persists.

Nevertheless, the issue can still be ameliorated if US authorities take appropriate measures to

cease this mistreatment.

The first reason for the undocumented worker issue is globalization. The US population is

divided in terms of how to best approach the issue of undocumented migration. One side has

suggested to erect a wall to prevent people from crossing the border; however, most

undocumented workers arrive in America with a visa that they soon use up. They do not

unlawfully enter the country by crossing the US-Mexico border. One more idea is to directly

target establishments where unlawful workers are employed. For instance, there could be a
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measure whereby the business receives a fine if undocumented workers are employed there.

However, the fine would probably be insufficient to stop the usage of unlawful workers

completely. Susan Froetschel accordingly points out that while supervisors use and mistreat

undocumented workerseven if they are expertsby underpaying them, the wealthy citizens

react as though these workers are threatening their job prospects (Froetschel). The US actually

needs its poor transient work, be that as it may.

Globalization has, clearly, made the issue of undocumented authorities all the more

difficult to control in light of the way that the edges of such an assortment of countries have not

ended up being fluid. People from around the globenot only the United Statesmigrate across

borders lawfully as well as unlawfully whilst searching for employment. This is a problem in

most industrialized and industrializing countries, although Jim Hightower, in an article from

Alternet, also states that due to globalization, workers are having to search for jobs in other

countries due to having lost their old ones. Hightower comments on unlawful workers in the US,

stating that they are attracted by the United States availability of jobs and government benefits

and simultaneously pulled away by the terribly poor living and working conditions in Mexico

(Hightower). This is important to consider when trying to develop a solution as to how to deal

with the influx of illegal laborers into the United States. The problem lies in the fact that since

Obamas presidency, the Republican government has refused to address any institution he

brought up, so little has been done development-wise aside from several authority tasks that

Obama issued independently.

The second reason that unlawful workers have been able to crossing national borders a lot

more frequently is that travel has become a lot less expensive. Air travel tickets are very cheap,

and much of the time transients enter countries basically by walking or rolling over the edge.
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Clearly, that has ended up being altogether more troublesome since the 2001 dread based

oppressor ambushes, be that as it may it is up 'til now not doable for pilgrims to easily cross

between nations. In any case, it is difficult not to see frequent news of Syrian refugees who try to

move away from their war-torn country to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea in order to find a

safer place to live. These refugees typically have no documentation and, in fact, nothing at all to

represent their identity because when they fled their country, all they were able to bring was

some bits of clothing. Warzone refugees much of the time undocumented workers just in light of

the fact that they have no reports to give, however in spite of all that they need to work

remembering the ultimate objective to help their relatives.

Usually, when American authorities discover undocumented workers, chiefs receive fines

whereas the workers themselves are imprisoned or confined until they can be removed from the

country. In the process, they are often brutally mistreated and manhandled. The office of

confinement is basically one name for a restorative office or prison. Illegal workers are held in

these areas for extensive periods before they pass through legal procedures and usually exhaust

their options in terms of how to remain in the country. According to the Journal of Social and

Legal Studies, from the Marxist viewpoint the manner in which the US outlaws illegal workers is

as a means to regulate an estimated surplus of labor. This is a tactic that is not as likely to be used

in moments of financial narrowing when there is a decreased influx of undocumented work. By

criminalizing undocumented labor, the wealth obtained from this work is maximally abused (5).

This is a negative standpoint, but it is not wrongespecially considering how much pressure

there is on the US government to deal with undocumented workers that supposedly take

American citizens jobs away from them.

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Unlawful workers are not only abused in at their place of employment, but also on a

political scale. According to the United States authority, undocumented workers augment issues

of financial irregularity because they are in the lower division of low wage authorities in the

country. US citizens complain about minimal wages that dont put them above the destitution

line, but unlawful workers do not even receive as many wages as those Americans. The regular

workers are logically being separated into chronicled and undocumented pros. The governing

body and agents bolster this division, remembering the ultimate objective to control the normal

laborers and to make these pros go up against each other, instead of seeing the way they are

through and through abused by managers who manhandle them. One particular article in the

online journal Socialism and Democracy states that transient works are constantly emptied out,

particularly African Americans, and this leads to more competition amongst low-wage workers

(SD Online). These sorts of capabilities diminish class awareness, as authorities see unlawful

workers as problematic liabilities and even enemies.

Solutions in regards to the poor treatment of undocumented workers do exist, but are

difficult to implemented in the United States socio-political climate. A large number individuals

fathom that if no organizations would be prepared to employ undocumented workers, they would

cease coming to the country and that would be the optimal solution to this persisting

problem. Eric Posner of Slate describes an American development paradigm consisting of three

levels: the highest level consist of particularly skilled and charismatic typically asked to come to

the United States; the middle level consists of semi-talented workers who are provided with short

term employment visas, and the third level consists of unskilled workers that are usually enabled

by supervisors getting them, yet who are offered no business security and are abused from

numerous perspectives. When it comes time to consider some individual dependable after a
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strike at some gigantic corporate modern office, where perhaps numerous undocumented

authorities are used, the workers are being forced to pay the best cost, which is not correct.

Posner states that it is puzzling how unlawful workers have been used by some of the United

States biggest, more staple associations like Tyson Foods. He also explains that worksite

moderations where government authorities check and remove unlawful workers have been

relatively few in number. Six years ago only 1500 undocumented workers were removed out of

over eight million, and only 400 organizations were fined or removed out of over six million

(Posner). One solution to the problem would be to put into place a law targeting people to use

undocumented workers instead of allowing them the right of freedom.

The most optimal solution to the existence of many undocumented workers in the United

States would be to identify and address the root of the issue, which is the US organizations that

contract these workers. These organizations usually consist of the richest Americans who have

exploitative associations with each Congressperson, so the proposed solution of targeting them

effectively is most likely not going to be executed. More plausibly, they will basically continue

to blame and enterprise the undocumented authorities.

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WORKS CITED

Froetschel, Susan. Exploited: Migrant Labor in the New Global Economy: A Review by Susam

Froestschel. Web. < http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/exploited-migrant-labour-new-global-economy>.

Hightower, Jim. Immigrants Come Here Because Globalization Took Their Jobs Back There.

Alternet (2008).

Slack, Jeremy; Martinez, Daniel. In Harms Way: Family Separation, Immigration

Enforcement Programs and Security on the US-Mexico Border. Journal on Migration and

Human Security. Web.

Posner. Eric. Theres No Such Thing as an Illegal Immigrant. Slate (2013). Web.

Radical Perspectives on Immigration. SD Online Issue 66, November 2014. Web.