Economics & Work

Assigned Readings:

• Immigrants in the Workforce-State by State and Industry by Industry

• Greico (2004) What Kind of Work Do Immigrants Do? Occupation and Industry of Foreign-Born Workers in the United States

• Immigrants don’t make up the majority of workers in any US industry

• Industries of unauthorized workers (2016) and Occupations of unauthorized workers 

• Q&A Facts About Immigration and the US Economy

• America’s Worst Graveyard Shift is Grinding Up Workers

• Cornelius, Wayne A. “The Mexican Presence in US Labor Markets” Mexican Migration to the United States: Origins, Consequences, and Policy Options 1, pp. 4-8 (W. Cornelius & J. Bustamante, eds, 1989). (http://tinyurl.com/j4ayxns)  (8pgs) 

• Borjas – 2016 – Yes, Immigrants Hurt American Workers (http://tinyurl.com/hol5pmp)

  • Borjas (Harvard economist), but even one of his colleagues contradicts his assertions

• Crider: An Immigration Raid Aids Blacks -- For a Time

  • see annotated version https://goo.gl/tchANF

  • wages went from $6/hr to $7-$9/hr

  • brutal work and not surprisingly native-born workers demanded better treatment and wages 

  • turnover is very high

• on immigrants and welfare: 

  • data is actually questionable- comes largely from discredited CIS-- http://scrible.com/s/4Bw2S 

These industries can't survive without legal immigrants.

SUGGESTED

• Ehrenreich - 2002 - Global Woman

• Undercover in a Chicken Factory (see below)

• Working in the Shadows: Undercover Writer Sheds Light on Immigrant Labor (see below)

• Cornelius, Wayne A. “The Mexican Presence in US Labor Markets” Mexican Migration to the United States: Origins, Consequences, and Policy Options 1, pp. 4-8 (W. Cornelius & J. Bustamante, eds, 1989). (http://tinyurl.com/j4ayxns)  (8pgs) 

Additional Resources:

• This Grocery Store Cleared Its Shelves Of Foreign Foods To Make A Statement About Racism

• INTERNATIONAL HARVEST: A Case Study of How Foreign Workers Help American Farms Grow Crops – and the Economy MAY 2013 A report by the Partnership for a New American Economy and the Center for Global Development Michael A. Clemens, Author (PDF report) 

• Illegal immigrants help fuel U.S. farms. Does affordable produce depend on them? 

• Basics:

  • What do we mean by wages are not changing? http://tinyurl.com/qxuhn2o 

  • But's it's really complicated...

    • median HH income not as bad: http://tinyurl.com/2gxv22c

    • but that only tells half the story

      • wages have clearly stagnated

      • the bottom has been hit hardest

      • shrinking middle class is a result of people moving into lower rungs of society AND people moving into upper rungs http://scrible.com/s/4BM2S