but entire families were recruited to live in camps near agriculturalfields, often in squalid and exploitative situations

Drawing on previous employmentand social connections, they generated migrant networks through which they sharedimportant information about how to migrate and find to work, thus making migrationeasier for friends and family members to follow in their footsteps

inferior servants, and how this came to inform their migration patternswithin a particular moment of Mexico’s economic and political history

the dark underbelly of capitalism, its backstage operations where cheap and irre-gular labour is used up in the search for hyperprofit’

and racismenshrines the inequalities that capitalism requires.

‘cannot function if we all areallowed to become fully human’ (

They foundwork in one of the most devalued spheres of labour, domestic service

acial capitalism

Subsequently, they helped other women tomigrate.

specialty occupations

eyond permanent admissions, the United States also admits hundreds of thousands of workers,foreign students, and exchange visitors annually for temporary residence through a broad swath ofvisa categories, assigned letters of the alphabet from A through V. While temporary visas do not leaddirectly to a green card, temporary visa holders in some cases can get one if they are able to find afamily member or employer to sponsor them.

but was 12 years for relatives from the Philippines—and more than 21 yearsfor those from Mexico. As of November 2018, there were 3.7 million people waiting in line abroad for afamily-sponsored green card, and 121,000 awaiting an employment-sponsored green card

, randomly selecting winnerswho will be invited to apply for a green card if they meet some basic criteria

“Skilled workers” (foreign nationalscapable of performing skilled labor,requiring at least two years of experience)-- “Professional workers” (foreign nationalswho hold at least a baccalaureate degree)-- “Other workers” (foreign nationalscapable of performing unskilled labor

tacit

by shifting back and forth between jobs in the informal and ethnic economies, but rarelyexperiencing real economic mobility

Those whoused their English to find work in hospitality and tourism were waiters or receptionistsor started their own businesses that cater to English-speaking persons. English languagecapability has enabled some female return migrants to bypass traditional domestic serviceand find work as English teachers or move to tourist towns where they can demand a highersalary because of their language skills

etail an

Migrants listed hard-to-measure personal achievementsand competences such as initiative, responsibility, self-confidence, follow-through,punctuality, and presentation of self, along with a number of social skills,

Men reportedthe transfer of construction, carpentry, and automotive repair skills; women reported foodand beverage preparation skills and some support and managerial skills such as computerand data entry knowledge.

“hard work ethic” and“punctuality” of immigrants workers

here the isolation and nature of thesocial relations are limited to unequal personal exchanges with employers,

butalso because migrants can apply skills learned at home and learn new ones abroad.

Some respondents were recommendedbecause of their particular skill sets.

Thus, some entered entry-level jobs asdishwashers and helpers, while others entered those same industries as cooks and skilledmasons.

host country language facility, formal education, vocational classes,and on-the-job training programs

These transitions werein part facilitated by the acquisition of off-the-job skills acquired in the social spheresof household and community before paid employment.

hey were morelikely than men to discuss not only the technical skills they acquired in their jobs, includingcooking, cleaning, and caregiving, but also social competences, such as team work andintergroup communication skills. Their jobs as receptionists, secretaries, domestics, andcooks made them good candidates for similar positions in the US

Informal (on the job): Observation, social interaction withcoworkers, experimentation and practice at work

Formal learning captures skills and knowledgeacquired through a structured set of learning experiences leading to credentials orqualifications that are recognized beyond the workplace or local industry (Misko 2008), andare thus more easily transferable across local, regional, and national labor markets. Skillsacquired in non-formal social contexts refer to those developed by workplaces for purposesof skill development, such as on-the-job training programs or formal demonstrationsby experienced co-workers (Misko 2008)

82% 86% 61%

Skill level 1 Work that involves repetitive tasks, e.g., dishwasher, leather cutter,laborer who mows lawns.Skill level 2 Requires experience and formal or informal training. Involvesmultitasking or the mastery of a specific skill, e.g., painter, gardenerwith multiple tasks, such as mowing lawns, pruning trees andbuilding walls.Skill level 3 Workers who have experienced extensive occupational mobilityover time and mastered all skills within an occupation throughextensive formal or informal training, e.g., maestro albañil, shoedesigner, factory floor supervisor, carpenter, nurse, teacher.

ompared to men, women more often citedsocial reasons for migrating, including joining a family member, usually a spouse, a reasonthat the literature reflects

human capital skills as a lifelong social process thatis embedded in social networks, families, communities, and labor markets at both ends ofthe migratory stream.

y not accounting for source country on- and off-the-job human capital investments, researchers ignore the value of home country skills forlearning new ones and the role that skill transfers potentially play in the learning and workexperiences of immigrants and return migrants.