In “ Undocumented Latinas: The New Employable Mother”, the author argues that undocumented Hispanic women living in the United States should receive equal rights as documented workers living in the United States. Domestic workers who have been continuously contributing to the economy, paying their taxes and just praying, wishing and hoping for change and a more prosperous future for their children. Hispanic woman and mothers who work rigorously day to day. These Hispanic women are not only workers, they are mothers and nurturers who are just trying to survive in this country. During the last decade, there has been an increase of Latin American Immigrants migrating to the United States. Which presumptuously insinuates the idea that more …show more content…
and more workers may be enduring violence and abuse being brought on to them by their employer or employers. We need to protect the rights and dignity of these Latin American Domestic workers living in California. Therefore, all domestic workers working in California should be able to report threats or abusive behavior done by their employers to the authority without running the immediate risk or of being deported or losing their job. Domestic workers need laws to be enforced that prohibit their employers from firing them or refusing to pay them if they go to the authority's reporting abuse and maltreatment on behalf of their employer. Many of these women are obligated to keep up with their employers’ unreasonable orders while still having to return home late at night after a long day to care for children of their own. In like manner, it has been impossible for many of these working mothers, especially single parents to survive off the little they earn every week. Their hours pay is under the minimum wage already and still, they are not being paid overtime for the hours they spend working longer than they are needed too. This should be considered abuse on behalf of the employers. The harassment done to domestic workers living in their employers home is very likely to be more severe than the harassment done to workers not living in the employer's home. Many reports have been made about different cases where workers have reported to have been trapped, assaulted and threatened by their employers. Certain employers have even forced their workers to sign documents stating that they have received their monthly pay when in fact, they have not. Moreover, according to different statistics, it has been proven as a fact that if the domestic workers are Hispanic or a person of color there is a greater chance that they will face discrimination, accusations, and mistreatment because of the color of their skin. As if the color of your skin determined how superior you may think you are in comparison to others, which is a completely distorted way of thinking that has caused many brown skinned Hispanics to be treated less than human by their white employers. This battle is especially difficult for women because they are statistically more likely to come across inappropriate and unwanted sexual advances made by male employers or husbands of the home. Which may come in all forms ranging from unwelcomed sexual innuendos , inappropriate comments , subliminal jokes, or offensive pictures of any sort. Any of this type of behavior can make female domestic workers feel uncomfortable and uneasy working in the homes of their employers.If an employee were to have been assaulted or sexually harassed they should have the right to file a charge with authorities. Despite these Hispanic domestic workers having to face unfair treatment and at times sexual harassment they are being overworked. They are being treated like robots and not respected as the human beings that they are. Being a Hispanic domestic worker, fairly new to this country , they are facing, even more, challenges being in a foreign country and not yet completely understanding the English language. They are still adapting to this new environment and just starting to get the hang of things. Employers have to understand that these are human being just doing what they are told to do and trying their best to understand the English language the best that they can. When these women is being called worthless or being cured at in English, that does have a severe impact on them. They would soon start to feel a sense of worthlessness as a human. Which can lead to frustration and feelings of resentment within themselves which can take a toll on their health, their well-being and how the see themselves as a person. Especially if they do not feel safe reporting this harassment they will be living everyday in complete isolation in knowing they can not do anything in their own power to stop this behavior. Since many of these Hispanic domestic workers are employed in private homes instead of established enterprises, this factor makes them more vulnerable to being taken advantage of behind closed doors. Many of them having to obey highly strict rules including how long they are allowed to sleep to even how long they are allowed to eat. This behavior is completely inhumane and inappropriate and should not be tolerated under the law under any circumstances. By the looks of it, some may even say it is today's modern day slavery. An employee should not be afraid to go to work every morning, they should not have to wake up with feelings of anxiety or instant burden because of what's to come that day. Common questions these working woman may ask themselves on a daily basis may be : Will I be yelled at today? Will I be raped today? Will I be insulted again today? Will my boss hold my checks and refuse to pay me for my day's work today? Are they going to be force me to work overtime without pay? ’’ These are all questions domestic workers fear the answers to. An employee should never fear to go to work they should never feel threatened or unsafe in their employer's home. Domestic workers need to be given the right to report any forms of harassment and discrimination they receive at their workplace. They need to be sure that they are protected by the law against any misbehavior by their employer. An example of these reoccurring problems can be seen in articles, newspapers, blogs and much more. In the text, Undocumented Latinas the author states the following: The first of these involved Claudia Garate, who immigrated from chile at the age of 19 in order to take a job as an au pair for a professional couple. Garate testified before the state Labor Commissioners in Sonoma Country that she slept on the floor and worked on call twenty-four hours a day seven days a week as a maid, babysitter, cook, and gardener for $50 a month. Garate;s employees held onto her visa and passport and withheld her pay for 13 months, claiming they would deposit it in a bank account for her. The second case involved Maria De Jesus Ramos Hernandez, who left her three children in Mexico To work as a housekeeper in California. Once here, her employer repeatedly raped her, telling her that he had paid her way here and would have her jailed if she did not submit to him. (56) These are stories being told again and again yet nobody is willing to listen. This type of behavior is not to be allowed at all under any circumstances. Domestic worker makes all other work possible.
Nannies and housecleaners and caregivers are what make other jobs possible. If you have two professionals who have responsibilities of their own and need to work, yet have nowhere to leave the children they can easily just pick up the phone and find themselves somebody who can do the job for them. If there was nobody to look after the children, they would not be able to go to work until you found somebody that they trust enough to take care of their children. Domestic workers make life for a large number of people a lot easier. Employees no longer have to worry about who will be feeding their children, washing their clothes, picking them up from school and so on. At the same time, they know that after a long day of work they will be able to come home to a clean house; offering a piece of mind to many. Without the help of domestic workers, many people would not be able to live their lives as they normally do. Domestic workers need to start receiving the rights and respect they …show more content…
deserve. According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects personal and home-care aide jobs are to increase 50 percent from 2008-2018, and home health aide jobs to increase by 50 percent in that time frame. The total number of Americans in need of long-term care is expected to rise from 13 million in 2000 to 27 million in 2050, an increase of more than 100 percent. The most significant factor increasing demand for long-term care will be the growth of the elderly population, which is expected to rise from 8 million in 2000 to 19 million in 2050. As a result, the workforce is growing and beginning to swell therefore it only makes sense to allow more Hispanic domestic workers to be protected from mistreatment from their employers and given the right to report it without the threat of being deported or losing their job. As opposed to looking to employ legal nannies, many employ undocumented workers because they are looking to save.
Why pay a documented worker $600 a week when you can pay an undocumented worker $175 a week for the same work? The middle and upper-class families are readily able to find affordable care for their own children at the expense of poor immigrant working women and their children . More Hispanic domestic workers are more likely to get fired once their employer finds someone else who is willing to work for less. Insinuating the idea that these undocumented working women are disposable and can be easily replaced. Not only that, workers often become attached to the children they are for. Which would make it an extremely emotional and saddening dismissal for both the worker and the
children. In conclusion , due to the society we live in, Latin American women are more vulnerable to experience racial slurs, discrimination, and racism by their employers. Many women and workers who are forced to keep all these bundled up feelings within start to experience great depression, insecurities, and discouragement. Workers should not feel unsafe when going to work, they should not feel threatened or taken advantage of emotionally, physically or sexually at any point in their lives, especially not in somebody else’s home. Domestic work makes all other jobs possible and should, therefore, begin to be recognized as vital to society. More and more Latin American immigrants are coming into the United States , meaning that this is a growing workforce. Many more women will sadly be put in a situation with their employers where they feel unsafe and taken advantage of. However, there should be a sense of sureness that they do not have to accept that maltreatment. They do not have to wake up every morning fearing of what's the day going to hold. It is cruel to allow humans to suffer in the hands of their employers. They should thus be confident that the law will protect them and they will no longer live in fear of being deported or losing their job over these hidden secrets. Employers should be forbidden to blackmail their Hispanic employees with threats of deportation. If we as a society do not start to fight for the change we will never begin to see it. This exploitation of Hispanic domestic workers will continue to happen and will affect thousands of more lives. If we do nothing to help these women feel safer at work, than we are part of the problem.
In the essay “Supporting Family Values,” Linda Chavez makes a case for allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. because they bring with them a stronger sense of family values than native-born residents do. In addition to Chavez’s arguments, it is important to note that they also bring with them a desire to work and support those families. While many immigration opponents would argue that immigrants are a drain on our public resources and have higher crime rates, the facts show that many illegal immigrants pay their fair share of taxes, many more would if given the opportunity, and the crime rates are lower.
In Marcelo M. Suarez- Orozco and Carola Suarez- Orozco’s article “How Immigrants became “other” Marcelo and Carola reference the hardships and struggles of undocumented immigrants while at the same time argue that no human being should be discriminated as an immigrant. There are millions of undocumented people that risk their lives by coming to the United States all to try and make a better life for themselves. These immigrants are categorized and thought upon as terrorist, rapists, and overall a threat to Americans. When in reality they are just as hard working as American citizens. This article presents different cases in which immigrants have struggled to try and improve their life in America. It overall reflects on the things that immigrants go through. Immigrants come to the United States with a purpose and that is to escape poverty. It’s not simply crossing the border and suddenly having a great life. These people lose their families and go years without seeing them all to try and provide for them. They risk getting caught and not surviving trying to make it to the other side. Those that make it often don’t know where to go as they are unfamiliar. They all struggle and every story is different, but to them it’s worth the risk. To work the miserable jobs that Americans won’t. “I did not come to steal from anyone. I put my all in the jobs I take. And I don’t see any of the Americans wanting to do this work” (668). These
History has repeated itself time and time again with exploitation of cheap labor from the slaves of ancient Egypt to American slavery to pseudo-slavery of Mexican workers. They are cheap to the mass of American companies most of the time because they can pay them under the table and not pay adsorbent amount of payroll taxes on the workers, but the workers mostly get paid less for the same or even more work than a person of legal citizenship would get paid. In a sense this is a form of slavery or a least labor practices of that of indenture servants which the country hasn’t advocated since the last 18th century. With this cheap labor many companies such as construction collation will primarily seek out Mexicans; the Mexican men tend to not complain of labor practices as a sign of machismo. The dehumanization only begins at this process of labor, but also Latinas, or Mexican women, are routinely discriminated against. This narrative as some might call the “hot” Latina paints a phony picture of what Mexican women birth patterns are in the U.S. According the Chavez there exits “the assumption of an innate, or genetic, basis for the Latina’s “hot” characteristics is part of common , especially the “it’s in their blood”
Jose Antonio Vargas’s article on My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant is a writing about his childhood journey from the Philippines to the United States as an Undocumented Immigrant. Vargas writes this article to emphasize the topic of immigrant and undocumented immigrant in the United States. He uses all three appeals: pathos, ethos, and logic in his writing, in specific, he mostly uses pathos throughout of his entire article with a purpose for the reader to sympathize and to feel compassion for him. The use of these appeals attract many readers, they can feel and understand his purpose is to ask for others to join and support other people who undocumented immigrant like himself. In addition, it gives other undocumented immigrant people courage
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...
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That statement holds strong for immigrants in America. Equal access to opportunities allows immigrants to achieve the American dream. Their success correlates with America’s success because of the contributions immigrants provide to America. Unfortunately, the current immigration policy in America denies many immigrants the American dream. It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most severely affected groups because the current immigration system disproportionally affects Latino/as. Recognizing how the experience of Latino/a immigrants have been both similar and different in the past from other immigrant groups and dispelling common misconceptions about Latino/as today bring an awareness how Latino/as are affected.
A nanny should not also see to, and supply physical care, however additionally set a decent example for the developing youngsters she is liable for. Children read the adults in their lives because the most vital role models, and even once it appears they're lost in their own world, they're still quietly observant the adults around them and learning behaviour from them. that is everything from table manners to speech patterns to interaction with others.
There is a common consensus among people around the world that the United States of America is the greatest country in the world because it is the land of opportunity, and the land of immigrants. In fact, the United States of America has always been the epicenter for the world 's greatest minds, and where hard work is recognized and rewarded. A place where boys become the future leaders of the world. A place where everyone, regardless of the color of their skin and their religion collaborate to solve the world’s future/current problems. Recently though, many Americans claim that undocumented immigrants steal their jobs, don’t pay any taxes, and still reap the benefits such as free public schooling. However, the author of “My Life as an Undocumented
"Why did she sing when she can’t even pronounce the words right? Haha that F.O.B. is so stupid!" These were the haunting words that I overheard my classmate utter to her friend as I was walking off the stage from my solo singing performance, cold sweat trickling down my face and warm tears welling up as my vision got blurry. These words remained etched in my memory as I was constantly reminded of the fact that I needed to improve my American accent to conform and assimilate into the American society.
Unfortunately, when you evaluate Hispanic women most likely they did not go to college, or even graduate high school. There may be many factors that determine their circumstance. For instance, they get pregnant and drop out. There may be a lack of motivation to go to school. They might get married at an early age. Even the nature of the culture may play a role, like making it seem it is okay not to go to college or finish high school. Or sometimes they may not have a role model to encourage them to do better. All these factors may be the cause of this circumstance, but it doesn’t have to always be the excuse. As a high school senior, I have noticed more and more pregnant girls; most of them Hispanic. Many of thes...
... their jobs” (immigration pg. 63). Hispanics fight back commenting on how they “take jobs Americans don’t want”. Hispanics say they come here to have a better life for their family and themselves and a job. Americans say Hispanics are criminals, drug dealers, etc. and should stay in their country. Yes, it is true Hispanics are usually in gangs; go to jail, do drugs etc. But Hispanics say they start doing those types of things because they don’t have money to take care of their family, so usually they will do anything for their kids to have a good life. The different POV arguments are endless.
We don’t realize how hard it is for immigrant parents to get their children education, and we judge and hate on something we have never been through. I guess it’s true you never know someone’s pain unless you go through it. Not everyone has the same privileges as others, some have to work twice as hard to try to give their children an opportunity towards an education on the contrary some American families have it simpler. I not blaming people who have families who were born here or say it’s wrong, but many people tend to affront children of immigrant parents and feel like they have the equitableness to say they aren’t suitable to receive public education.
Latina women are suppressed through Hispanic culture with the ideology that a woman’s domain is within the walls of her own home. However, there has been a greater turnover rates in high school graduates amongst Latinas they are still falling behind due to lack of resources and the restricted patterns of opportunity perpetuated through transformative assets.
As long as civilizations have been around, there has always been a group of oppressed people; today the crucial problem facing America happens to be the discrimination and oppression of Mexican immigrants. “Mexican Americans constitute the oldest Hispanic-origin population in the United States.”(57 Falcon) Today the population of Mexican’s in the United States is said to be about 10.9%, that’s about 34 million people according to the US Census Bureau in 2012. With this many people in the United States being of Mexican descent or origin, one would think that discrimination wouldn’t be a problem, however though the issue of Mexican immigrant oppression and discrimination has never been a more prevalent problem in the United States before now. As the need for resolve grows stronger with each movement and march, the examination of why these people are being discriminated against and oppressed becomes more crucial and important. Oppression and Anti-discrimination organizations such as the Freedom Socialist Organization believe that the problem of discrimination began when America conquered Mexican l...
Working mothers try their best to balance between families and work. Mothers who work outside are happier, have a better level of health and energy, as compared to stay at home mothers. Working mothers are dynamic multi-taskers and great managers. The most important reason that mothers should work is money. Whether a mother is single or married, in order to survive in a fluctuating economy the family needs money. Mothers can never see their family depriving of basic needs. Another reason could be if a mother is earning more than a father then it's wise to continue the job. Also when both mother and father work, two incomes are coming into the house. Because of that family can enjoy the luxuries, go on vacations and fulfill children demands. A working mother is financially independent. If a husband dies or divorces her, she will have no...