From the enclave to the city: the economic benefits of immigrant flexibility

Abstract

While much attention has been paid to the entrepreneurial “base” of the ethnic economy, the enclave is primarily composed of thousands of hourly employees working in small co-ethnic or multi-ethnic immigrant firms. The US economy benefits from over 10 billion dollars in taxed income and wages from immigrants whose social security numbers do not match up with their employee tax identification numbers. Multiple mismatches and misinformation about immigrants (from an economic, cultural, and political standpoint) demonstrate the need to understand the unique potential of immigrant communities in facilitating urban growth. Koreatown in Los Angeles, an ethnic enclave economy that is also a central business district for many immigrant workers, is one emergent example of new types of flexibility around citizenship status and semi-formal jobs as they are negotiated on a daily basis in the neighbourhood. Previous studies of the ethnic enclave have maintained that there is a singular importance to the co-ethnic network (Korean to Korean, or Cuban to Cuban, for example), and yet this traditional characterisation of the ethnic enclave does not hold true in most urban ethnic enclaves, which include multiple ethnic groups working side by side. Interviews with Korean and Latino workers demonstrate the ways in which people (including undocumented individuals) contribute to the local economy, and informally communicate in neighbourhoods and cities to build a broader social and economic network outside of enclave boundaries.

Keywords:

• immigrant
• labour
• ethnic economy
• informal economy
• global city

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From the Enclave to the City: The Economic Benefits of Immigrant Flexibility

Notes

1 ACS Census 2008–2012.

2 2004 Mayor James Hahn opens first office to aid immigrants in City Hall, Immigrant Affairs Unit (Los Angeles Times 2004). Through two terms Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urges comprehensive immigration reform, inclusive of undocumented immigrants (Politico 2013); 2014, Mayor Eric Garcetti brings attention to the problem of unaccompanied minor children crossing the border (Los Angeles Times 2014).

3 Immigration scholarship commonly uses the word “unauthorized” to refer to persons living in the USA without permission. See: Pastor and Marcelli (2003), Marcelli (2004), Carpio et al. (2011). This may be more accurate terminology because many “undocumented” immigrants often do have access to other state-issued documentation (passports from origin country, or drivers licenses). However, because the study participants self-describe as being “undocumented” or “without papers” in interviews, I use this word to refer to this category of immigrants in the article from this point forward. See Pew Research Center (2013).

4 Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance.

5 Grassroots Global Justice Alliance.

6 NDLON #not1More deportation campaign (NDLON).

7 Welcoming America.

8 Immigration Policy Center

9 N = 30. Fifteen Korean and 15 Latino (Mexican, Central American) immigrants were interviewed between 2009 and 2011. Interviews were semi-structured, lasted approximately 60–90 minutes and included questions on current and previous occupations, amount and method of pay, job-seeking strategies, and other workplace related experiences. Pseudonyms assigned to participants to maintain confidentiality. No real names were recorded or retained. Full Board Review approved at UCLA and Pomona College (UCLA IRB # 11-001419).

10 The author was able to recruit only three male study participants for the Korean group, all of whom expressed gender-specific cultural stigmas related to food services, one of the predominant industries in Koreatown. Korean men reported inability to be hired as servers in Koreatown restaurants due to their (older) age and gender. The same gender-specific challenge were not expressed by Latino men, making up approximately half of the group, tended to be younger in age and did not express challenges finding work, particularly in food services – most likely due to racial divisions in the “front” and “back” of the house in many Korean restaurants.

11 Unregistered taxis are illegal in Los Angeles, but serve as a main transportation alternative for the enclave's residents. One undocumented Korean subject revealed that she often uses these cabs, generally the same driver, for getting to work in lieu of public transportation. She found it particularly helpful to avoid being “caught on the street” during police and ICE raids of MTA buses in 2011 and 2012.

12 For a more detailed discussion of the variance in combinations of informal and formal arrangements with ethnic employers, see Kim (2012).

13 Kotkin (1996).

14 Some variation among Central American immigrants (includes Honduran, Salvadoran, Guatemalan referrals).

15 Cities and Counties launch initiatives to welcome new Americans. Welcoming Cities and Counties (2013).

Additional information

Funding

Funding provided by the UC Center for New Racial Studies and the UCLA Institute of American Cultures.