Immigration Article of the Day: The Precarity of Temporality: How Law Inhibits Immigrant Worker Claims by Kati L. Griffith and Shannon Gleeson
The Precarity of Temporality: How Law Inhibits Immigrant Worker Claims by Kati L. Griffith and Shannon Gleeson, Comparative Labor Law &Policy Journal, Vol. 39, No. 1, 2017
Abstract
Employee claims against employers, rather than government-initiated investigations, are the motor of the workplace law enforcement regime in the U.S. Immigration status is a well-documented source of immigrant worker precarity that may inhibit some immigrant workers from making claims against their employers, even when faced with the most egregious violations of their basic protections in the workplace. But how does immigration status inhibit claimsmaking, and how might that be different for immigrant workers with different statuses under immigration law? We address these questions by looking at three types of immigrant workers who lack permanent status in the U.S: unauthorized workers, low-wage guest workers sponsored by employers, and workers with temporary reprieves from deportation and work authorization. We draw from our analysis of legal institutions, relevant secondary literature and a pilot study of workers in New York City with Temporary Protected Status. We propose that these different immigration status categories produce differing experiences with legal regimes, such as criminal, employment, and administrative law. In turn, these distinct legal institutional contexts affect how immigrants weigh the prospect of coming forward with a workplace law claim against their employers.
KJ