Migrant workers live in a transnational world that spans the boundaries of nation-states. Yet for undocumented workers, this world is complicated by inflexible immigration policies and the ever-present threat of enforcement. Workers labeled as “illegals” wrestle with restrictive immigration policies, evading border patrol and local police as they risk their lives to achieve economic stability for their families. For this group of workers, whose lives in the U.S. are largely defined by their tenuous legal status, the sacrifices they make to get ahead entail long periods of waiting, extended separation from family, and above all, tremendous uncertainty around a freedom that many of us take for granted—everyday mobility. In Milking in the Shadows, Julie Keller takes an in-depth look at a population of undocumented migrants working in the American dairy industry to understand the components of this labor system. This book offers a framework for understanding the disjuncture between the labor desired by employers and life as an undocumented worker in America today.
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Dairying Differently: The Labor Shift in the Wisconsin Dairy Industry
- 3 Organizing Mobility: The Transnational Making of Workers in Veracruz, Mexico
- 4 Changing Villages: From Coffee and Corn to Migration and Milk
- 5 Crossing in Place: Mobility Regulated at the Border
- 6 Precarious Work, Limited Mobility: Managing in the Shadows on Los Ranchos
- 7 Belonging in the Countryside: The Rural Idyll and the Legal Landscape
- 8 Going Home: Delayed Departures, Families in Wait, and the Difficulties of Returning
- 9 Conclusion: The Politics of Mobility
- Appendix
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
