Fighting the "Immigrant Threat" Narrative

Abstract

Ruth Milkman's latest book is a strong scholarly response to the "immigrant threat" narrative that has been central to U.S. politics in the last decades. In Immigrant Labor and the New Precariat, the distinguished labor and migration scholar has a clear goal: to reframe the conversation about migration and increased inequality in the United States, reversing the causal relation that blames migration for the U.S. working class's current perils.

Specific challenges faced by the eight key occupational groups

“…In the United States, in 2020, nearly 50 per cent of service workers, including in retail, did not have access to paid sick leave, 48 less than half of low-wage service workers had employer-based health insurance and 21 per cent had no health insurance. 49 These numbers indicate that many key retail workers cannot afford to take sick leave, and thus continue to work when they are ill or injured, with consequences for their own recovery and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, for spreading the virus. Long and unpredictable work schedules are another major source of insecurity for key retail workers.…”

The risk and strain of working during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Which is really dangerous. 62 The work intensity of security guards also increased. Throughout the world, many retail establishments hired extra security personnel to help implement government-mandated protocols.…”