Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5095-2220
Graduation Year
2026
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Politics and International Relations
Reader 1
Nancy Neiman
Reader 2
Arely Zimmerman
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2026 Reyna G Silva Carrillo
Abstract
Los Angeles hosts one of the largest garment manufacturing industries in the U.S., built on the labor of undocumented immigrants who often work under exploitative and unsafe conditions. This paper explores how the intersection of broken labor laws and punitive immigration enforcement creates systemic vulnerability for these workers. Despite recent reforms—such as California’s SB 62, which bans piece-rate wages and holds brands accountable—enforcement remains weak, and wage theft continues to persist. State-level protections for undocumented immigrants clash with federal policies that prioritize detention and deportation, leaving workers in a state of constant precarity. While grassroots movements have secured important legislative victories, the garment industry continues to operate in the shadows. This paper argues that without stronger enforcement mechanisms and meaningful federal immigration reform, undocumented garment workers will remain excluded from the very protections designed to support them.
Recommended Citation
Silva Carrillo, Reyna Guadalupe, "Stitched in Precarity: Labor Exploitation, Immigration Policy, and Resistance in the L.A Garment Industry" (2026). Scripps Senior Theses. 2810.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2810
Included in
American Politics Commons, Immigration Law Commons, Labor and Employment Law Commons, Public Policy Commons, Work, Economy and Organizations Commons
