Means to an End

An Assessment of the Status-blind Approach to Protecting Undocumented Worker Rights

Bibliographic Data

ID2363296
AuthorsShannon Gleeson (0000-0002-0927-4089, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume57
Issue3
Pages301-320
Publication date2014-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Perspectives (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0731-1214 • E-ISSN: 1533-8673
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0731121414523733
OpenAlexW2325772713
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited35

This article applies the tenets of bureaucratic incorporation theory to an investigation of bureaucratic decision making in labor standards enforcement agencies (LSEAs), as they relate to undocumented workers. Drawing on 25 semistructured interviews with high-level officials in San Jose and Houston, I find that bureaucrats in both cities routinely evade the issue of immigration status during the claims-making process, and directly challenge employers' attempts to use the undocumented status of their workers to deflect liability. Respondents offer three institutionalized narratives for this approach: (1) to deter employer demand for undocumented labor, (2) the conviction that the protection of undocumented workers is essential to the agency's ability to regulate industry standards for all workers, and (3) to clearly demarcate the agency's jurisdictional boundaries to preserve institutional autonomy and scarce resources. Within this context, enforcing the rights of undocumented workers becomes simply an institutional means to an end

Autonomy · Bureaucracy · Business · Conviction · Enforcement · Immigration · Law and economics · Liability · Narrative · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Public Administration · Regulation and Compliance Studies

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