American International Journal of Social Science

Immigration and the American Dilemma
Kathleen C. Schwartzman

Abstract
Immigration is one small part of an “American Dilemma.” The American Dilemma describes three identifiable mismatches: jobs that "nobody wants"; jobs that are shipped overseas; and jobs for which American workers are unqualified. From computer specialists to cabbage pickers, businesses lobby for immigration in order to expand their respective labor pools. This research demonstrates how labor management conflict created the alleged vacancies. The case study samples from one industry (poultry processing), in the Southeastern United States, during the decade of the 1990s. This three-dimensional sampling frame captures the convergence of an industry recently transformed by Taylorism, a region new to labor-management conflict, and a time (and place) new to immigration inflows. It concludes that without educational and labor reforms, immigration reform is inadequate.

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