‘Illegalized’ Migrant Workers and the Struggle for a Living Wage

A higher proportion of workers are earning sub-poverty wages today, compared to few decades ago. Illegalized migrant workers have been disproportionately affected by this trend through super-exploitative employer practices. To improve the wages of low-wage workers, members of unions, community groups, activists, and support coalitions have launched living wage campaigns in cities in the USA, UK and, more recently, Canada. Recognizing that illegalized migrant workers’ lack of legal status is valuable to neoliberalism’s economic “success”, yet at the same time, subjects them to arrest and/or deportation by federal immigration authorities, this paper examines modern living wage campaigns, and how they have incorporated the situation of illegalized migrant workers into their agenda. A review of the literature shows that living wage campaigns have not been very successful in achieving their broad goals while at the same time protecting low-waged illegalized migrant workers. These findings indicate that current and future living wage campaigns should consider working closely with Sanctuary City campaigns to improve their strategies for protecting illegalized migrants from arrest and/or deportation while working to improve the working and living conditions of low-waged workers, including the illegalized.