Future of Work Provides Grant to Study Immigrant Workplace

When unauthorized immigrants face violations of their workplace rights, the courts, legal scholars and government officials often disagree over how, or even if, the law protects them.

To study the intersection of immigration law and workplace rights law, Youbin Kang has joined ILR as a post-doctoral fellow through a Future of Work grant. In this position, Kang will, under the guidance of Professor Shannon Gleeson and Professor Kati Griffith, conduct research examining the impact of immigration status on workplace precarity.

“The project considers the political landscape and the force of law driving policy decisions that affect low-wage immigrant workers,” Kang said. “The focus on workers' legal status, workplace regulation, and legal advocacy aligns with my interest in thinking and writing about the interplay between demographic change and labor relations, specifically focusing on how shifting ideas around race, class, and gender identity are implicated in labor relations.”

Kang brings expertise on a range of issues facing low-wage workers across the globe, including organizing amongst transit workers in New York City and Seoul, and garment supply chains in Bangladesh.

The research will evaluate a recent policy change by the Department of Homeland Security, which took an unprecedented move in October 2021 and signaled that immigration relief may be granted to those who help enforce labor rights.

A number of labor rights cases that involve this policy are currently moving through administrative agencies and courts, according to Griffith, the Jean McKelvey-Alice Grant Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Diversity, and Faculty Development at ILR.

Kang, who recently completed a doctorate in sociology from the University of Wisconsin, will engage with the National Immigration Law Center and other worker and immigrant advocacy groups to examine the impacts of the DHS’ efforts.

“Drawing on this timely and unique policy shift, the project will examine the impact of this policy on workers, organizations and labor rights enforcement outcomes,” Griffith said.

The research that takes place over the next 18 months will culminate in both scholarly and popular publications.

“We are thrilled to have Youbin join the research team and will benefit from her insight and contributions to the project,” said Gleeson, the Edmund Ezra Day Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Labor and Work at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.