The Price of Domestic Workers’ Invisible Labor in U.S. Border Towns

The land straddling Texas and Mexico makes up almost two-thirds of the 1,933 mile U.S.-Mexico border. On one end lies El Paso and the Rio Grande River; on the other is the Gulf of Mexico and border towns like Brownsville, the site of the former Walmart where nearly 1,500 migrant children are being detained, far from their parents. But behind closed doors in thousands of homes peppering those miles, are domestic workers doing the invisible labor of the region—most of them immigrant women.

A new report based on interviews with 516 housecleaners, nannies, and care workers on the border, reveals high incidences of wage theft, abuse, and exploitation among these already vulnerable laborers. Their stories were collected in 2016 by volunteers from three community-based organizations—Adult and Youth United Development Association Inc (AYUDA) in San Elizario; Fuerza del Valle Workers’ Center in Alamo; and Comité de Justicia Laboral in El Paso—many of whom are former or current domestic workers themselves.