Jane Slaughter

Jane Slaughter is a labor writer based in Detroit, Michigan. In the viewpoint that follows, she tells of how immigrant workers, many of them illegal, are being exploited by employers who pay them low wages and subject them to unsafe working conditions. She holds that many employers purposely use undocumented workers because they are more willing to accept dangerous and low-paying jobs. Government laws against hiring illegal immigrants are seldom enforced and are easily circumvented by forged documents, she contends.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. Why are illegal immigrants more willing to take jobs other people do not want, as explained by Slaughter?
2. What industries and lines of work does the author contend have become dominated by immigrant labor?
3. What role have unions played for illegal immigrants, according to Slaughter"

At a 1997 rally...