Migrant Labour in the United States: Working Beneath the Floor for Free Labour?

Abstract

This chapter argues that the combination of US employment and immigration laws create a system for the exploitation of immigrant workers that runs counter to the purpose of the Thirteenth Amendment to the US constitution. The chapter provides an overview to US employment and migration laws and then identifies specific problems raised for immigrant workers. The chapter then describes Thirteenth Amendment jurisprudence and shows how the current system of laws runs afoul of the amendments purpose.

Keywords: Thirteenth Amendment, migration, immigration, labor law, employment discrimination, involuntary servitude