Confl icting Commitments Confl icting Commitments The Politics of Enforcing Immigrant Worker Rights in San Jose and Houston Shannon Gleeson ILR Press an imprint of Cornell University Press Ithaca and London Copyright © 2012 by Cornell University All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. First published 2012 by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2012 Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gleeson, Shannon, 1980– Confl icting commitments : the politics of enforcing immigrant worker rights in San Jose and Houston / Shannon Gleeson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8014-5121-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8014-7814-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Foreign workers—California—San Jose. 2. Foreign workers— Texas—Houston. 3. Foreign workers—Legal status, laws, etc.— California—San Jose. 4. Foreign workers—Legal status, laws, etc.— Texas—Houston. 5. Employee rights—California—San Jose. 6. Employee rights—Texas—Houston. 7. Illegal aliens—California— San Jose. 8. Illegal aliens—Texas—Houston. I. Title. HD8081.A5G54 2013 331.6'2097641411—dc23 2012024641 Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fi bers. For further information, visit our website at www. cornellpress.cornell.edu. Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Paperback printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Para mi mamá y abuelita, Maristela Robinson y Marta Aldana Cruz Debo todo mi éxito a sus sacrifi cios To my mom and grandma, Maristela Robinson and Marta Aldana Cruz I owe all my success to your sacrifi ces Contents Acknowledgments ix List of Abbreviations xiii Introduction: Immigrant Labor in the United States 1 1. Work in Postindustrial America 30 2. Implementing the Legal Rights of Undocumented Workers 64 3. Place Matters: How Local Governments Enforce Immigrant Worker Rights 89 4. Beyond Government: How Civil Society Serves, Organizes, and Advocates for Immigrant Workers 118 5. Advocating across Borders: Consular Strategies for Protecting Mexican Immigrant Workers 163 viii Contents Conclusion: Making Rights Real for Immigrant Workers 195 Notes 207 References 227 Index 263 Acknowledgments A fter years of researching and writing this book, the process of account- ing for all the people who have helped me reach this point seems the most daunting. I will do my best. T he seeds of this book were planted over a decade ago in O’Connor Hall at Santa Clara University. My mentors at SCU, especially Marilyn Fernandez, Chuck Powers, and Laura Nichols, sparked my sociologi- cal imagination and have supported me every step of the way since. My committee members in the Departments of Sociology and Demography at UC Berkeley helped lay the foundation for this research. I offer thanks especially to Irene Bloemraad, Sam Lucas, Mike Hout, Kim Voss, Michael Burawoy, Ron Lee, and Margaret Weir. Each fueled my intellectual cu- riosity in ways that weren’t always immediately apparent, but which al- ways came full circle. Special thanks to the Interdisciplinary Immigration Workshop, the Migration Working Group at the Center for Latino Policy Research, Gene Hammel, Lauren Edelman’s law and society workshop, and Claude Fischer’s sociology writing workshop. Countless colloquia at