research summary
RESEARCH SUMMARY February 2013
Choosing to become unauthorized Mexican & Central American migrant farm workers Tanya Basok, Danièle Bélanger and Eloy Rivas What you need to know As many as 30,000 farm workers have come to work in Canadian agriculture through the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Program (SAWP) or through the Low-Skilled Workers Pilot Project (LSWPP). More than half of the SAWP workers are from Mexico and a growing number of LSWPP workers are coming from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. In Ontario, the municipality of Leamington hosts close to 4,000 migrant workers each year. Over the last few years, migrant farm workers have experienced increasing job insecurity. Employers frequently use the threat of deportation to increase productivity and discourage migrants from challenging their working conditions. The threat of deportation also contributes to increasing competition among migrant workers of different countries. In the meantime, more and more migrants are leaving these programs and choosing to become unauthorized in Canada.
What is this research about? This study set out to better understand rising numbers of unauthorized migrants in the Leamington area. It specifically explored whether migrants are choosing to drop out of temporary programs and become ‘illegal’ because of threats to their contracts. The research also examined the working and living conditions of unauthorized migrants after seeking employment outside of the system.
Increasing competition among temporary migrants leads to an atmosphere of hostility and prevents many from seeking out much needed support from co-workers.
30 Mexican and Guatemalan workers in this group came to Canada through SAWP or LSWPP. They discussed their working conditions and their intention of either continuing to work on contract or drop out and become unauthorized. The other 20 were currently living and working without authorization or they had experienced ‘illegality’ at some point of their lives in Canada. Of these 20, three had dropped out of the above-mentioned temporary programs. The group of 20 migrants interviewed discussed working and living conditions as unauthorized migrants.
What did the researchers find? What did the researchers do? Researchers interviewed 50 Mexican and Central American migrant workers in Leamington, Ontario.
Despite increasing competition and fear of being deported, very few migrant workers were considering to drop out of the temporary programs.
CERIS –The Ontario Metropolis Centre CERIS would like to thank the Knowledge Mobilization Unit at York University for permission to use this summary format.
RESEARCH SUMMARY February 2013 Attachment to their families came out as the main reason they preferred working on a contract. Interviewed workers feared that if they were to drop out the program, they would be separated from their families for a long period of time and would consequently risk their emotional family bonds back home. In addition, migrant workers feared it would be hard to find new jobs in current market conditions and that living costs would increase if they had to pay for expenses already covered by employers under the program. Decreased savings might then mean they wouldn’t be able to provide adequately for their families.
About the researchers
Migrant workers who did drop out of the program were either single, divorced, or experiencing marital problems. Migrants living and working in Leamington without authorization experienced anxiety, fear of deportation, and difficult access to healthcare. The research subsequently revealed how fear of deportation is also strong among workers who are employed on contract. To secure their jobs, they had to increase their productivity and compete with their co-workers. This higher workload resulted in decreased mental and physical health. Although accidents are becoming more and more frequent, workers are less likely to take time off to receive medical treatment. The increasing competition between workers also fosters an atmosphere of hostility and a lack of trust. This prevents workers from seeking out support from co-workers for the emotional and physical problems they face.
Danièle Bélanger is a professor of geography at Laval University in Quebec City. She is a former Canada Research Chair at Western University and the former director of Western’s Migration and Ethnic Relations Collaborative Graduate Program. Her research examines various international migration issues. She focuses on gender and migration, marriage migration, and temporary labour migration within Asia (Southeast Asia to East Asia) and North America (Mexico and Central America to Canada). She is particularly interested in documenting the migration experience to promote migrants’ rights.
How can you use this research? This research is of relevance to policy-makers, labour organizations, and community activists. It is crucial to strengthen the bargaining power of workers employed on contract and restrict employer power to arbitrarily and unilaterally dismiss their workers. Labour organizations should play an important role in advancing workers’ rights to secure their future and create a working environment more conducive to promoting workers’ good health. Community organizations need to consider how they can provide further support to unauthorized workers and ensure that they access healthcare when needed.
Project title: Choosing to Become Unauthorized: A Case Study of Mexican Migrant Farm Workers in Leamington Tanya Basok is a professor at University of Windor’s Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology, and director of the Centre for Studies in Social Justice. Her research focuses principally on migration and migrant rights. She is particularly interested in how the notions of citizenship rights and human rights have been articulated and negotiated by grassroots and international organizations to advance the rights of migrants. She specializes in migration within and from Latin America.
Eloy Rivas holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Sonora (Mexico), and an MA in Sociology from the University of Windsor. He is currently a doctoral candidate in sociology and political economy at Carleton University. His current research focuses on health-related problems faced by undocumented migrant workers in the underground agricultural labor market of southern Ontario, as well as workers’ collective responses to these problems. Basok, Bélanger , and Rivas authored a Final Report on the findings of this study:
http://j.mp/leamingtonmigrants For more information about this research, contact Dr. Basok by email at [email protected].
Keywords Temporary migration, guest worker programs, illegality, migrant rights, deportation, farming, health, Leamington, Ontario
CERIS –The Ontario Metropolis Centre CERIS would like to thank the Knowledge Mobilization Unit at York University for permission to use this summary format.
Choosing to become unauthorized Mexican & Central American migrant farm workers Tanya Basok, Danièle Bélanger and Eloy Rivas What you need to know As many as 30,000 farm workers have come to work in Canadian agriculture through the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Program (SAWP) or through the Low-Skilled Workers Pilot Project (LSWPP). More than half of the SAWP workers are from Mexico and a growing number of LSWPP workers are coming from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. In Ontario, the municipality of Leamington hosts close to 4,000 migrant workers each year. Over the last few years, migrant farm workers have experienced increasing job insecurity. Employers frequently use the threat of deportation to increase productivity and discourage migrants from challenging their working conditions. The threat of deportation also contributes to increasing competition among migrant workers of different countries. In the meantime, more and more migrants are leaving these programs and choosing to become unauthorized in Canada.
What is this research about? This study set out to better understand rising numbers of unauthorized migrants in the Leamington area. It specifically explored whether migrants are choosing to drop out of temporary programs and become ‘illegal’ because of threats to their contracts. The research also examined the working and living conditions of unauthorized migrants after seeking employment outside of the system.
Increasing competition among temporary migrants leads to an atmosphere of hostility and prevents many from seeking out much needed support from co-workers.
30 Mexican and Guatemalan workers in this group came to Canada through SAWP or LSWPP. They discussed their working conditions and their intention of either continuing to work on contract or drop out and become unauthorized. The other 20 were currently living and working without authorization or they had experienced ‘illegality’ at some point of their lives in Canada. Of these 20, three had dropped out of the above-mentioned temporary programs. The group of 20 migrants interviewed discussed working and living conditions as unauthorized migrants.
What did the researchers find? What did the researchers do? Researchers interviewed 50 Mexican and Central American migrant workers in Leamington, Ontario.
Despite increasing competition and fear of being deported, very few migrant workers were considering to drop out of the temporary programs.
CERIS –The Ontario Metropolis Centre CERIS would like to thank the Knowledge Mobilization Unit at York University for permission to use this summary format.
RESEARCH SUMMARY February 2013 Attachment to their families came out as the main reason they preferred working on a contract. Interviewed workers feared that if they were to drop out the program, they would be separated from their families for a long period of time and would consequently risk their emotional family bonds back home. In addition, migrant workers feared it would be hard to find new jobs in current market conditions and that living costs would increase if they had to pay for expenses already covered by employers under the program. Decreased savings might then mean they wouldn’t be able to provide adequately for their families.
About the researchers
Migrant workers who did drop out of the program were either single, divorced, or experiencing marital problems. Migrants living and working in Leamington without authorization experienced anxiety, fear of deportation, and difficult access to healthcare. The research subsequently revealed how fear of deportation is also strong among workers who are employed on contract. To secure their jobs, they had to increase their productivity and compete with their co-workers. This higher workload resulted in decreased mental and physical health. Although accidents are becoming more and more frequent, workers are less likely to take time off to receive medical treatment. The increasing competition between workers also fosters an atmosphere of hostility and a lack of trust. This prevents workers from seeking out support from co-workers for the emotional and physical problems they face.
Danièle Bélanger is a professor of geography at Laval University in Quebec City. She is a former Canada Research Chair at Western University and the former director of Western’s Migration and Ethnic Relations Collaborative Graduate Program. Her research examines various international migration issues. She focuses on gender and migration, marriage migration, and temporary labour migration within Asia (Southeast Asia to East Asia) and North America (Mexico and Central America to Canada). She is particularly interested in documenting the migration experience to promote migrants’ rights.
How can you use this research? This research is of relevance to policy-makers, labour organizations, and community activists. It is crucial to strengthen the bargaining power of workers employed on contract and restrict employer power to arbitrarily and unilaterally dismiss their workers. Labour organizations should play an important role in advancing workers’ rights to secure their future and create a working environment more conducive to promoting workers’ good health. Community organizations need to consider how they can provide further support to unauthorized workers and ensure that they access healthcare when needed.
Project title: Choosing to Become Unauthorized: A Case Study of Mexican Migrant Farm Workers in Leamington Tanya Basok is a professor at University of Windor’s Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology, and director of the Centre for Studies in Social Justice. Her research focuses principally on migration and migrant rights. She is particularly interested in how the notions of citizenship rights and human rights have been articulated and negotiated by grassroots and international organizations to advance the rights of migrants. She specializes in migration within and from Latin America.
Eloy Rivas holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Sonora (Mexico), and an MA in Sociology from the University of Windsor. He is currently a doctoral candidate in sociology and political economy at Carleton University. His current research focuses on health-related problems faced by undocumented migrant workers in the underground agricultural labor market of southern Ontario, as well as workers’ collective responses to these problems. Basok, Bélanger , and Rivas authored a Final Report on the findings of this study:
http://j.mp/leamingtonmigrants For more information about this research, contact Dr. Basok by email at [email protected].
Keywords Temporary migration, guest worker programs, illegality, migrant rights, deportation, farming, health, Leamington, Ontario
CERIS –The Ontario Metropolis Centre CERIS would like to thank the Knowledge Mobilization Unit at York University for permission to use this summary format.
