Most people today are mistaken about what occurs inside the factories and farms that produce the food we eat. They believe that slavery ended long ago after the emancipation proclamation, but that is unfortunately wrong. Slavery, abuse, and threats are in fact still present today within our own industries. Most think that with machines in our factories, tiresome labor is minimized and that work has become a stroll in the park. While true in some cases for native-born workers, this is rarely the case for immigrants. American owners today hire immigrants who are willing to receive lower paying wages than native-born workers (Jordan A13). We take for granted the cheap prices of products that undocumented immigrants make possible, while ironically accusing them of stealing our jobs. Immigrants are not here to steal our jobs, but instead are here to feed and support their family. They face several obstacles and are wiling to go through great measures to fulfill the American dream. The process of cheese making will allow us to observe the realities of immigration labor in America. Cheese production is mainly found in Wisconsin and California, the two largest diary producers in the U.S. Together they “produce roughly a quarter of the U.S.’s cheese supply” (Harvey 210). U.S. immigrants constitute the majority of the work labor force in the factories of these two states and are willing to work long hours at low wages. According to the UW-Madison Program on Agricultural Technology Studies, farm owners are “looking for low-cost reliable workers” (Gould 2). An immigrant named Jose who works at a Wisconsin farm is paid as much as two dollars less than what citizen workers earn – about six dollars an hour. There is no reason for farm owners ... ... middle of paper ... ...“Potential Public Health Impacts of the Use of Recombinant Bovine Somatropin in Dairy Production.” Consumer Unions. Join Expert Committee on Food Additives. 15 11 1997. Web. 7 Feb 2011. Codex.htm>. Harvey, Blatt. America’s Food: What You Don’t Know About What You Eat. 1st ed. Cambridge: Mass MIT Press, 2008. 210. Print. Jordan, Miriam. “Got Workers? Dairy Farms Run Low on Labor” Wall Street Journal 30 5 2009: A13. Print. Kay, Jane. “Hilmar Cheese Co. polluted wells, reports show.” San Francisco Chronicle 26 10 2010: A1. Print. Kushner, Jacob. “Immigrants change face of Wisconsin dairy industry.” Cap Times 11 11 2009: 8. Print. Roeder, Jeannette. United States. Cheese Sales and Trends. Washington D.C.:IDFA, 2011. Web. 7 Feb 2011. .
Under this development, foreign companies could set up plants within 100 miles of the United States/Mexico border. These were known as maquiladoras (Broughton 5). Maytag and other manufacturing companies took advantage of this opportunity for the cheap labor, land, resources and thus ability to be more profitable. Maquiladora employment tripled to 1.3 million in 2001, since 1990 (Broughton 142). Maytag’s plant was called Planta III and required less jobs and less skilled labor than what was required in Galesburg. This was good for the company’s bottom line, but bad for employees. The employers had complete control since labor was so easily replaceable. The workers began to be looked at as machines; interchangeable and dispensable and thus were not getting a fair wage. In Mexico the average cost for one week of food was $81 but maquiladora employees would only get paid $36 per week (Broughton 152). Maquiladoras also hurt the local and national Mexican economies. Locals would say that “the only thing maquiladoras have done is occupy the workforce … they don’t resolve any of the problems they generate…overpopulation, lack of social services, school and health care. All of this is what the maquiladoras have brought” (Broughton 153). These companies were simply there to make a profit and provide jobs, not to enrich the employee’s or communities lives. The profits from
Wallach, Jennifer Jensen; Wallach, Jennifer Jensen (2012-11-21). How America Eats: A Social History of U.S. Food and Culture (American Ways Series) (Kindle Locations 755-756). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, legal and illegal, from around the world, come to the United States. These immigrants come because they want a chance at a better life; others are refugees, escaping persecution and civil wars in their home country. Many people believe the United States is the best place to go. There is more freedom, protection, and benefits, which seems like a good deal to immigrants. But the large number of immigration is affecting the current citizens of the United States. Taxpayers are forced to pay for the welfare and schooling for many of these immigrants, some who are illegal aliens. Some citizens believe that immigration can be hazardous to the environment. Others blame crime, poverty, and overpopulation on immigration. About sixty-eight million immigrants have been added to the United States since 1970, and it is estimated that 130 million people will be added over the next fifty years. The government has tried somewhat to restrict immigration but the laws are still too lenient. Nearly every other advanced country in the world is moving quickly towards stabilized population or has already achieved it. The United States is moving towards it very slowly. This country would have to reduce immigration down to 255,000 a year to do this (Beck 1). If nothing is done to stabilize the immigration to this country, what will become of population in the next decade? The population will continue to grow even faster - not due to births, but to massive immigration to this country. Immigration can become a serious problem to this country if the government does not produce stricter laws.
Out of the 11 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States, 8 million of them are currently working. Employers in America who want inexpensive workers, hire illegal immigrants and pay them under the table. Since the system does not have an efficient way of identifying and penalizing these employers, this has been an ongoing dilemma. As a result, the American economy suffers because illegal immigrants are not paying taxes like the rest of the legal citizens. Americans who are citizens consequently have difficulties finding jobs because employers would rather pay under the table so they can make higher profits. In my perspective, the employers are at fault here if they knowingly hire workers who are not eligible to work here. However, if the employer did not know about an immigrant’s illegal status than the immigrant is at fault for cheating the system. These are just some of the current issues related to illegal immigration t...
Various housekeeping jobs and yard work is done by immigrants, both legal and illegal. Immigrants are a necessity in the United States Labor Market; between 7 and 8 million of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States are working, contributing to the economy and contributing to America’s growing work force (Jacoby 22). Unemployment is above 8 percent, and some American’s would argue that these jobs could be filled by U.S. workers, but they can’t. The reason being that unemployed United States workers are usually selective as to which jobs they are willing to take, and many of them do not want to be dish washers or housekeepers. Americans have also become more educated over time, and they strive for higher positions with a larger income. The lower positions do not disappear and unskilled worker...
With the current shift of globalization, many jobs are being outsourced overseas. Illegal immigration is being seen in jobs that cannot be outsourced, rather jobs that are insourced. These include jobs in the large scale agriculture, construction and meatpacking industry; which require labor to be done within the country. It also includes jobs in service industries where demand has seen a recent incline such as nannies, food service and landscaping (119). The sharp increase of demand roots from consumers’ dwindling free time; a result of more females working and a general longer work day. The change of labor structure has further created a demand for insourced
The United States cannot afford to lose the economic gains that come from immigrant labor. The economy would be suffering a greater loss if it weren’t for immigrants and their labor contributions, especially during the 2008 U.S. recession. The U.S. economy would most likely worsen if it weren’t for the strong labor force immigrants have provided this country. Despite the mostly negative views native-born Americans have towards immigrants and the economy, their strong representation in the labor forces continues today. Immigrants aren’t taking “American” jobs, they are taking the jobs that Americans don’t want (Delener & Ventilato, 2008). Immigrants contribute to various aspects of the economy, including brining valuable skills to their jobs, contributing to the cost of living through taxes, and the lacked use of welfare, healthcare, and social security when compared to native-born Americans, showing that the United States cannot afford to lose the contribution immigrants bring into the economy.
Immigration has been part of America since before the 17th century. America has evolved into what it is today due to immigration; however immigration as negative effects as well. Immigration is the building blocks for America. Every one that lives in America today are here because their ancestors immigrated here long ago. Over the years immigration as evolved into a more sophisticated matter. There are many laws they have been put in place to monitor and stop immigration. Immigration I a big factor in America but must be done correctly to insure Americas safety.
In 2007, the White House issued this statement in hopes to influence a Congressional debate: “Immigration has a positive effect on the American economy as a whole and on the income of native-born American workers” (Pear). This statement relates to the idea that immigrants actually enhance the productivity of American workers and increase their earnings in a significant amount, estimated at $37 billion a year (Pear). This is just one way in which immigrants support economic development in the United States. Since the U.S. is an i...
As people immigrated to the United States, legally and illegally, particularly Hispanic workers, they began to look for jobs to provide for their families. They took jobs that Americans did not want: they accepted the low-paying, physically-demanding, and temporal agriculture jobs. Since many did not speak English and were uneducated, some even illiterate, they were easy targets for farm owners to exploit. Immigrant workers were often not paid, had low wages, and because of such conditions, some even died. In addition, they also lived and worked in appalling conditions, some workplaces did not even have suitab...
Most are working in agriculture creating the produce which we purchase and there is always a need for people in this field, and not many people even want these jobs. The jobs that the immigrants are taking are jobs like working on farms and these jobs have even been offered to Americans who are unemployed and only 3% of the people accepted (Baragona). One researcher states, “From the perspective of National Milk Producers Federation in 2009, retail milk prices would increase by 61 percent if its immigrant labor force were to be eliminated” (Goodman). Just one example of how the economy would start to go down, keeping in mind of all of the other produce that these people are creating.Without these undocumented immigrants working we would not have enough people working in this field. The people who are coming to work in the United States to make a better life for themselves are people who should be welcomed, people like Jose Antonio. Antonio became very successful along with many struggles getting to where he is. Rory O’Connor wrote about how he is an American hero and states, “He, and millions like him, have much to contribute to America- and without people like them, our country will be
Immigration has changed the demographics of the US. It has contributed to a massive growth of the US population. The inflow of immigrants has added a good mix of various ethnic and racial groups to the US population. The immigrant groups have had a tremendous impact on the social, cultural, economic and political landscape of the US.
Every year a lot of illegal immigrants pass the border, 10 million illegal immigrants live in the U.S and more than 1,400 arrive every day and it is just impossible to keep track of them. “ Willing to work for low wages, the migrants are creating a backlash among some residents of the new states, which have seen a nearly tenfold increase in illegal immigration since 1990 .” ( Katel, Peter “Illegal immigration”). These illegal immigrants just want to live in this country, they are mostly working for cash, and they provide cheap labor. Illegal immigrants willing to work on low-paying jobs just to live in this country, as it is stated in the article “ While illegal immigrants only make up about 5 percent of the U.S. workforce, critics of the nation 's immigration policies say illegal immigrants take Americans ' jobs, threaten national security and even change the nation 's culture by
The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale). Schlosser sets off chapter 5: “Why the Fries Taste Good,” in Aberdeen,
... to exist in our days, needs to be changed more if we ever want to achieve a true progression in our economy and society where not only the rich get the biggest piece of the pie. After researching a little and analyzing numbers and statistics from the past and present, fifty-one years have done two basic things to the harvesters of shame, their wages have improved a little bit and the ethnicity of the workers has changed from poor whites and blacks to poor Hispanics, bringing new factors into play such as the pros and cons that hiring immigrant workers bring to companies. Even though, these potential improvements appear to be substantial and beneficial shifting the views many workers and farmers had in the past, not all people receive the same treatments and benefits some companies share, thousands of immigrant workers have become the new mute slaves of America.