Latino Women Migrant Worker in California Job Abused
Introduction
Migrants refer to the people who are in a given country or state illegally, and without any form of legal documentation. Latino migrant women happen to reside mostly within California State, given its proximity to the border of Mexico. Since the past regime, there has been some undefined relationship between California State and Mexico. In the 1880’s, Mexico owned the California state and enormous tracts of land were issued to their people. It was until the late 1890,s that the USA had to fight for the state before Mexico officially released the state. This left many of the Mexicans in the same area, giving rise to a breed of people whom we call the Latinos (Portes and Reuben 127). The Latinos have dominated the area till the present, with a majority of them acquiring petty jobs mostly in the agriculture sector. California also faces the issue of illegal immigrants who happen to reside in California. The effect of this is that the immigrants come as a source of cheap labor to cater for their living and food expenses (Kyoso 21). However, this research focuses on women immigrants. A majority of them work in farms and other agricultural sectors. Women in this area bare untold stories of the suffering they go through in workplaces (Chang-Muy and Elaine 34). They suffer the most as they have the sole responsibility of providing food to their children and husbands. They are abused by their employers, and due to the fact that they are immigrants in the country, they opt to become silent on the issue and keep it to themselves. Through proper methods such as conforming to their needs, overseeing employer’s rights and issuing the women with legal documentation, the issue of harassment may be resolved (Bergen, Claire, and Jeffrey 17).
General Causes of the Issue
The problem comes about due to the need of quick jobs and need to survive. A majority of women opt to go to the agricultural sector as it is more diversified, and could easily become their hiding place. Once employers identify them as illegal migrants, they offer them petty wages and expect women to produce the best results. Another cause of the problem is that most of the Latino males leave the women in the state and travel elsewhere to hunt for jobs (Diaz and Marta 156). The departure of men leaves the women with a workload of burden such as providing for family and taking care of themselves. They, therefore, opt to search for work and end up working in the agricultural sector (Llorente). This is due to the fact that it is easier to find jobs there. The other factor that fuels the abuse of Latino women is the fear of their deportation, and their inability to pay taxes. They fear that the government might catch up to them and deport them back to their country. Accordingly, they opt to stay and work where they get wages in order to avoid taxes (Llorente). Wages provide an assurance of quick money in liquid form. This means that issues such as taxes are not included and women are able to evade taxes.
Context
The suffering that women go through is disheartening. Fox news reported that women are so used to getting raped by their employers that they now consider it as casual sex. Other women who cannot handle the pressure end up working in farms during the daytime and as prostitutes during the night time. Merital while reporting to the New York Times said that her employer used to sneak up behind her and grab her private parts. Then he forced her to have sex with him (Cone). She did this unwillingly fearing to lose her job as it was her main source of income. Another reason why women do not report is the fear of deportation (Taylor, Philip and Michael 43). They, therefore, suffer in silence while most of them get harassed. Sexual abuse is not the only form of abuse. Mendez reported to Fox news that she worked in a pesticide region being pregnant and gave birth to a baby without arms or legs. She did not report the issue fearing the deportation since her owner refused to settle (Cone). Girls at the age of 14 years are forced to drop out of junior school and help their mothers. The untold suffering they face is indeed immense.
Research Questions
There is a need to create a background of research questions needed to cement the base of this paper. First of all, the issue of women abuse does not affect California alone. Do the women in other areas face the same problem as the ones they experience in California? Are there any laws protecting women immigrants? Or if they are immigrants nothing should be done. Is the government trying to do anything about the issue? Should the government issue documentation to the immigrants? Should the immigrants receive compensation? Should they get deported instead?
However, my research has steered me to a more pressing question: Who is the guilty? The employer who employs cheap labor or women who offer the cheap labor? Currently there is a women group in California, Women on Women Immigrants (WOWI), that tries to surface the problems faced by women immigrants (Cone). It tries to set up jobs for women without necessarily involving the government. There are also efforts done by the Law body of California to punish the employers who offer jobs to immigrants though the bill is yet to get implemented.
Review of the Research
It is clear that women immigrants in California get inhumane form of treatment. The question of whether or not help them is still the underlying factor. Many would argue that it is something they have brought to themselves and need no help (Kolapo 32). However, the truth is that we all are humans. We have the same origin and in as much as they are immigrants, we should focus on helping them. They may be aliens in the country, but through proper efforts such as those provided by WOWI, they will not fear to come out and report on the injustices they face. The other pertinent issue is the need of a regulatory body across the nation to check on the progress of immigrants (Diaz and Marta 187). They may be shadows among us, but they need help from every possible place to settle their problem.
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