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Introduction In the past several years, researchers and pundits have spoken about the growth of the US Latino community in very narrow terms. The national discourse has mainly focused on [...]

A significant number of Latina/os are turning to employment in ethnic niches as an alternative to general labor markets. This study places special focus on how skin color segmentation or colorism influences job-market allocation. The hypothesis is that dark-skinned Latina/os are more likely to be employed in ethnically homogeneous jobsites or niches. The author tests the hypothesis using survey logistic regression on a sample of 322 Central American(Guatemalan, Nicaraguan, and Salvadoran) and Mexican-origin workers utilizing data from the Los Angeles Study of Urban Inequality. The results show that dark-skinned Latina/o workers are more likely to be employed in ethnic niches as opposed to lighter-skinned individuals. It is concluded that skin color stratifies Latina/o workers into distinct markets that can have implications for their socioeconomic incorporation. Keywords: coethnic; colorism; labor; niches; socioeconomic status; stratification

Acquiring good jobs is vital for the economic success of immigrants, yet occupational attainment is understudied in the immigration literature. One particularly neglected aspect is the role of ethnicity in occupations beyond the ethnic niche. This study examines the occupational attainment of long-term Latin American immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Cuba, Ecuador, and Colombia in four metropolitan areas with large Latino populations. The findings show that occupational attainment varies considerably by country of origin across these areas, although important human and social capital factors also are significant variables. These findings lend support to the proposition that, for immigrants, place of origin and destination play an important role in job-queue position. Keywords: immigrants, Latinos, occupational attainment, panethnicity, queuing theory, U.S. metropolitan areas., The role of occupations in the incorporation of immigrants is understudied compared with other economic outcomes. With the exception of research on ethnic niches (Logan and others 2000; Wright and [...]

This article investigates Los Angeles employers' attitudes towards African American and immigrant Latino low-skill workers. Using 145 in-depth interviews of employers in four industries, I find that a central concern of employers of low-skill jobs is control at the workplace, and employers consequently seek workers whom they perceive as manageable and pliable. As such, the most salient component of employers' attitudes towards African American and immigrant Latino low-skill workers is their perception that the manageability and pliability of workers vary by race, nativity and gender. I also link employers' micro-level attitudes to broader societal level ideologies about race and opportunity. I find that employers' attitudes were embedded within an ideology of individualism, as exemplified by the idea of the `American Dream', and reflected the growing belief that race-based claims are illegitimate. Keywords: Racial attitudes; low-skill; employers; control; nativity; gender.

This article discusses the negative manner in which Latino immigrants are portrayed in Northern Colorado newspapers. Topics include employment displacement, xenophobia and economics.

Introduction The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was enacted in 1986 to reduce illegal migration by reducing U.S. employment opportunities for unauthorized workers. For the first time, IRCA imposed [...]