Illegal Migrant Labor in the United States.
They stand on corners early in the morning waiting to be picked up. They"re not .
prostitutes and they"re not criminals but rather the are ordinary people who come to this .
country from all over the globe in search of work. They"re Mexican , Haitian, .
Salvadoran, and various other ethnic groups who have left their countries for a variety of .
reasons. Some are just looking to make some money while others have left in order to .
escape poor and often times repressive conditions in their home countries. These people .
see America as a land of opportunity but these opportunities are not easy to find and .
when do find them they"re often times grueling tasks that no American is willing to .
perform.
Through my extensive search I found two articles that caught my attention. The .
first was from the November 10th New York Times Magazine. It covered different .
aspects of illegal migrant labor including, working conditions and treatment from .
employers as well as Americans in general. In the article was a lengthy description on the .
plight of illegal Mexican laborers in Long Island. In one particular instance workers were .
attacked by the local population primarily because of racial prejudice (most of the .
workers are Latinos while the town is mostly white). There were also narratives of the .
daunting tasks the workers perform for very little money.
The second article was from the front page of New York Times and talked about .
the scandal at a Tyson Foods meat packing plant , which involved the smuggling of .
workers from Mexico all the way to Kentucky to work at the plant. The plant managers .
did this in order to save costs but their scheme was uncovered when one of the workers .
notified the police. .
The primary reason why people hire illegal migrant laborers is they"re a source of .
cheap labor. Every year landscapers, farmers, and even major corporations save hundreds .
of millions of dollars through the use of migrant laborers.