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William Vitin
Cynthia Hamlett
ENG 102
31 July 2014
No Tengo Dinero: Chasing the American Dream
Do you enjoy working long hours? How about working under hazardous conditions? Do
you like being mistreated as an employee? How would you feel if you were paid under the table?
Sure enough, many probably would not even dare to work in a corporation that would make you
work in those conditions. Jobs like, slaughterhouses, to harvesting, construction jobs, and
landscaping jobs are all hard working jobs that pay so very little to their employees and offer
no health benefits. Yet, those illegal immigrants who migrate to the United States, to live the
American Dream, take on those jobs that others do not want to work for. Big named
corporations running meat packaging companies, produce companies, construction businesses,
and landscaping business hire illegal immigrants to work for their businesses to make big money,
while paying them below the average wage. These illegal aliens are being paid under the table by
these huge corporations because they are not documented citizens of the United States. It gives
the employers no reason to pay them the respected earnings they should be given. These illegal
aliens work hard for their money and obtain jobs from those Americans that do not want to work
in hazardous conditions. Yet, Americans complain continuously about how these illegal
immigrants are taking their jobs and money, and they also claim that our government is helping
out the wrong individuals. In reality, they are the workers who keep our country intact and
running efficiently with less pay and little to no health benefits, so with all the hardships they
have to endure they deserve the right to become a legalized American citizen.
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There are many reasons as to why illegal immigrants come to the United States. One
being that there are a lot of jobs Americans do not want such as landscaping or meat packaging
companies because they believe they are too good for these jobs. Another reasons why they cross
over the border is because they want to escape poverty and escape a corrupt government. They
cross over because they want to seek a better life for themselves and for their families future. So
why cant they come to the United States with legal immigration documents? In Mexico for
example, obtaining legal immigration papers are only available for the rich. The majority of the
illegal aliens that come into the U.S. come from very poor provinces. They cannot afford legal
immigration documents, so they either depend on lottery picks for, legal papers, or they cross the
border illegally.
Illegal aliens come to the United States to take on jobs that offer them greater
opportunities. They are often welcomed by U.S. employers who are able to hire them for wages
lower than the wages they would to pay towards U.S. workers. This type of employment is
illegal under a law enacted in 1986, Immigration Reform, but many employers disregard the law
and hire illegal workers in underground economies such as slaughterhouses and harvesting farms.
Other corporations simply accept fake employment documents and hire these illegal workers as
if they were legal because there is no requirement to verify documents presented by workers -
making corporations easily evade compliance. Because many illegal aliens accept to take on jobs
that offer lower wages and poor conditions, they are making jobs in that sector less attractive to
those U.S. workers who are looking for jobs. A large share of illegal alien population is generally
accepted as being in the workforce because that is what motivates most illegal immigration
(FAIR). Recently asking a random group of individuals at an event, where they currently do not
hold a job title, they were asked if they would want to work for a big name food packaging
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corporation. They would simply be paid by the states minimum wage, work full-time, and be
offered the lowest health care protection by the company, but the health insurance will only
cover a small portion of their medical bill. Their response to the question was, no. All of them
had said that it was not worth putting their lives in danger while being under paid. If they were to
work in conditions where their lives were threatened, they would want to be paid with a higher
cost and with better health care benefits. Which is why corporations had decided to hire
undocumented aliens because they are cheaper on cost and do not demand higher pay they just
accept their role. Because employers pay their workers at a cheap rate, they are able to make a
huge profit gain possibly profiting a few hundred percent off sales.
Corporations biggest cost is labor for their employees. Companies who hire
undocumented workers pay at a lower label cost than those companies who follow the rules on
hiring documented applicants. The reason why corporation employers hire undocumented
immigrants because fines and penalties are rarely enforced. Another reason why corporations
hire illegal immigrants is because hiring and training an employee costs more than 40 percent of
the employees wages. For many corporations, that is an expensive price to pay. Many
corporations stand by their claim that they are committed to hiring and training legalized
employees because it is essential for Americas future, yet they hire illegal immigrants because
of cheap labor and higher profit gain (Benjamin). The biggest concern when corporations state
that they are fully committed against illegal immigrants by using weasel words to declare their
support against illegal immigrants. A weasel word is a word that appear to say one thing when
they really mean the other, or nothing at all. William Lutz, the author of, Weasel Words: The
Art of Saying Nothing at All, explains various types of weasel words that are set for us to
believe one thing, when in fact it means the opposite. For example, the word help only means
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to aid or assist. Help does not mean anything when people begin to focus only on the dramatic
claims (Lutz). When a company starts a campaign to encourage their supporters to help control
illegal immigrants from coming into our country by voting for a specific candidate into office,
the people are now more in tuned with who to vote for, that they forget about why they are
voting for this person. Big named people, such as Justin Timberlake, have such a huge influence
on the decisions people make. When Target used Justin Timberlake as an advertising campaign,
it was to gain more sales and customers on his 20/20 album release. Because Justin Timberlake
has a huge fan base, Target knows that advertising his new album will generate more customer
and profit gain for their company. Companies do care about the peoples vote because the
candidates they are representing are affiliated with their business. Today, in the state of
California, we are seeing about 1,887,695 illegal immigrants who are employed by big and small
corporations. In total, we are seeing about 11.9 million illegal workers across the nation (FAIR).
Recently on the news, there was coverage about illegal immigrants who were being sent
back to their originating countries. Before the buses, which were loaded with illegal immigrants,
headed towards the U.S., Mexico border, a herd of picketers were seen shouting at these people
to leave their country and stop taking their jobs away. Through history class, did we not learn
that we took the land, we call home, from the Native American Indians and Mexicans? So why
are these picketers so angry at these illegal aliens who are just trying to find a better life style for
their family? Did we not learn that when the first American settlers set foot into the U.S., they
did not have papers for themselves to present to the Native American Indians? The first
American settlers migrated to the U.S. for the same reasons why these illegal immigrants cross
over into the United States, to start a new life with better opportunities for their families. And
those opportunities are presented by big and small corporations. The fact that these illegal
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workers are willing to work in any type of conditions with below average pay over a documented
citizens who have education and training for the job and who is also asking for an above average
pay to work. Corporations are willing to hire those who are cheaper to pay. Yes, illegal
immigrant workers may have taken American workers jobs due to cheaper labor. But, many may
say that they have set the bar lower for those American workers who own their own private
businesses such as landscaping jobs. For example, take two separate landscaping businesses. One
business being an American worker, and the other being an illegal immigrant. Both run their own
business and both work hard every day. The American worker has a certificate in landscaping,
while the other has nothing on paper but his name. The illegal worker charges less and does a
great job just like the American worker, yet the American charges more because he has a
landscape certificate under his name. Majority would probably choose the business that charges
less. Looking at it through an employers eyes, they too are trying to find individuals who do not
have degrees or certificates under their names, yet hoping they can get the job done as well as the
worker who has a degree or certificate. In this case, illegal immigrants are usually hired because
they do not demand higher pay, therefore, making employers easily committed to illegal aliens
coming into the states. These types of actions by employers leaves American citizens who are
looking for jobs so fueled about stopping illegal immigrants from coming into the country.
What many Americans fail to see is how these illegal alien workers take on the jobs that
they do not want to work in. In the movie, A Day without a Mexican, directed by Sergio Arau, it
documents on how the United States would react if Mexicans disappeared from the face of the
planet. The disappearance of Mexicans left produces being unpicked, not produced, and the
streets are left dirty. With produces being unpicked and left unpackaged, it left many local
grocery stores empty handed with food causing Americans to start riots and start black-markets
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for simple vegetables that could be handpicked themselves. The director also includes scenes of
farm owners desperately looking for replacements to harvest and produce, and only finding
people who did not know how to understand farm work (A Day Without a Mexican). The movie
is to open the audiences eyes and have them re-evaluate the important roles these undocumented
workers play in our lives by demonstrating what the citizens take for granted because they are
too busy living the life. Drive up I-5 in central California, many of the farm pickers are
working at triple digit temperatures, and 98 percent of the crop workers on those California
farms are born outside of the United States (Martin 197). Yet, we drive on by not a care in the
world on how hard they work to provide for their family. Still, many Americans are still trying to
drive them out of the country.
Undocumented workers have to endure a lot of hardships while working in America.
They face discrimination and lack of self-worth, yet they accept their roles and move forward
with their lives. By allowing immigrants to be mistreated by corporations and American society
is problematic because it degrades the way America has fought to overcome equality. Many
illegal immigrants who are crossing into America to find jobs are already part of the low-income
society. The jobs that are being offered are paying them under the table. Forcing them to live in
low-end motels or neighborhoods. Low-end neighborhoods means low-end education for their
children and also low end foods for their families. An undocumented alien makes about $15,160
per year (Lofstrom 177). That is not even enough money to support their family for clothes, food,
or other necessities. Still, Americans, whose yearly salary is three times greater, are complaining
about losing their jobs by illegal aliens. We will be seen as a greedy country, and outside nations
would not want to do business with us if they know they were going to get the short end of the
stick. The essay, The Poor Get Dibetes, the Rich Get Local and Organic, by Mark Winne,
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talks about how low-income families get affect by unhealthy foods. Because illegal immigrants
are undocumented people, they are forced to live in low-end neighborhoods. Living in a low-end
neighborhood means low-end foods. With poor income salaries, families are faced with hunger,
obesity, and diabetes (Winne). When they are faced with medical problems, they have nowhere
to go because they do not have any type of health insurance to pay for their fees. Corporations
are treating these illegal aliens like test rats in a lab, once they are not able to perform to the
corporations expectations, they are left with expenses they cannot pay. Leaving them no choice
to live without seeing a doctor.
We are a nation always trying to improve our lives as a whole. But, we fail to improve
those lives who are in greater need than ourselves. We now live in a world where we owe $17
trillion in national debt. We should begin by legalizing undocumented workers in all
corporations. Anyone, illegal or legal, deserves the right to be paid fairly and be given health
care benefits through the corporations pockets. With or without papers, it should not
discriminate towards ones pay. Undocumented immigrants deserve particular rights such as the
right for a safe workplace or to emergency health care (Gleeson 14). But, it is argued that illegal
immigrants should not have access to public benefits, as this would impede citizens ability to
enjoy those benefits. Arguing that opposing argument, is a moral or ethical obligation to provide
health service to anybody within a country, regardless to their legal status or right to be present
(Glen 199). If a corporation is willing to hire an undocumented alien, they should be held
responsible for any sudden expense their undocumented employees are faced.
By legalizing more than 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States,
employers are forced to rais c e wages, increase consumption, create jobs, and generate more tax
revenue. In a CNN post, the cost for deportation is a loss of $2.6 trillion (Legalizing
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Unauthorized Immigrants Would Help Economy, Study Says). By legalizing these
undocumented workers, the U.S. domestic product will add up to $1.5 trillion. Higher wages and
even better jobs would help translate increased consumer purchasing power which would
benefit the U.S. economy as a whole. Reforms that enhance legal immigration channels for high-
skilled immigrants and entrepreneurs while protecting American workers and placing all high-
skilled workers on a level playing field will promote economic growth, innovation, and
workforce stability in the U.S. Immigrants make up 23 percent of the labor force in high-tech
manufacturing and information technology industries, and immigrants more highly educated, on
average, than the native-born Americans working in these industries. For every immigrant who
earns an advanced degree in one of these fields at a U.S. university, 2.62 American jobs are
created (Beadle). Some argue that undocumented citizens only come into the Unites States for
free health care provided from the government. That is not true, those who work with the
immigrant community understand that immigrants are attracted by the magnet of job
opportunities and higher wages in such industries as agriculture, food processing, and hotel
services. Most undocumented immigrants are productive hardworking members of our society. It
is our responsibility for preventing the systematic exploitation of the poorest, most powerless,
and most marginalized among us. The first step in for our national policy makers to approve
health and immigration reform legislation that extends health care coverage to the undocumented
immigrant community (Martinez). By documenting the undocumented aliens, more jobs will be
created, higher wages will take into effect, and we will being seeing our economy climb back to
the top by increased consumer purchasing power.
Corporations are hiring and paying illegal immigrants under the table creating more
revenue towards the companys funds and no benefits towards the government federal and state
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tax. Corporations and Americans take illegal immigrants for granted because they believe that
they are too good for such hard working positions - that becomes problematic. They do not
realizing the consequences that they may face the way other nations deal business with us. Illegal
workers are the reasons why our country is still intact. Multiple people had agreed that illegal
aliens had helped the U.S. maintain a vigorous and productive economy. Our country was
founded by immigrants. Immigrants who wanted to start a new life for the better creating the
American Dream. Immigrants who work hard for our nations country deserve the opportunity
to start the American Dream. If the government starts legalizing and treating immigrants as equal
citizens of the United States, it will demonstrate our respect to those many contributions to our
community made by the undocumented immigrant community.













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Work Cited
A Day without a Mexican. Dir. Sergio Arau. Perf. Yareli Arizmendi, John Getz, Maureen
Flannigan. Altavista Films, 2004. DVD.
Beadle, Amanda Peterson. Top 10 Reasons Why The U.S. Needs Comprehensive Immigration
Reform. Think Progress. 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 30 July 2014.
Benjamin, Michelle. Firms that Hire Undocumented Wokers Pose Unfair Competitive
Advantage. The Washington Post. 13 May 2012. Web. 28 July 2014.
Gleeson, Shannon and Robert G. Gonzales. When Do Papers Matter? An Institutional Analysis
of Undocumented Life in the United States. Wiley-Blackwell. 2013. Web. 26 July 2014.
Immigration Issues. Federation for American Immigration Reform. 2013. Web. 26 July 2014.
Legalizing Unauthorized Immigrants Would Help Economy, Study Says. CNN. CNN Politics,
7 Jan. 2010. Web. 28 July 2014.
Loftsrom, Magnus. Wage and Mobility Effects of Legalization: Evidence from the New
Immigrant Survey. Wiley-Blackwell. 2012. Web. 26 July 2014.
Lutz, William. Weasel Words: The Art of Saying Nothing at All. Language Awareness
Reading for College Writers. Ed. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, Virginia Clark. 10
th
ed.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 442-451. Print.
Martinez, Ed. Undocumented Workers Deserve Health Care. UT San Diego. 10 April 2013.
Web. 30 July 2014.
Martin, Philip. Immigration Reform and California Agriculture. California Agriculture 67.4
(2013). Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics University of California,
Davis. Web. 26 July 2014.
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Patrick, Glen. Health Care and The Illegal Immigrant. Health Matrix 23.1 (2013). Case
Western Reserve University. Web. 26 July 2014.