The Tortilla Curtain

Illegal immigration and labor exploitation go hand in hand in the United States. Despite the backlash against undocumented immigrants, many sectors of the US economy, particularly agriculture, rely on cheap immigrant labor. Employers have long been known to intentionally seek out undocumented workers, whether for “their gumption or their limitless exploitability” (Henderson, Timothy J. Beyond Borders: A History of Mexican Migration to the United States. United Kingdom, Wiley, 2011). The worker’s undocumented status is often in the unscrupulous employer’s favor as undocumented employees are unlikely to report abuses or demand better working conditions for fear of deportation.

Yet while undocumented workers are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of crime, anti-immigrant rhetoric in American press and culture portrays immigrants as criminals who take work from American citizens and bring violence into American communities. Such rhetoric dehumanizes undocumented workers in the minds of US citizens, reducing their understanding of and empathy for their plight. The combination of persistent anti-immigrant rhetoric with “the continuing refusal of the US to reform its immigration policies serves the purpose of providing US business interests with a constant supply of compliant, cheap labor” (Etler, Dennis. “U.