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COPYRIGHT 2005 The Institute Inc.
Introduction
Take a look behind the scenes of any restaurant in Dallas, Texas, and you are likely to find male Mexican dishwashers and food preparers. Who are these men and how do their work experiences affect their incorporation into Dallas society? In this article, I examine a group of migrants from an area in northern Yucatan, Mexico, who are employed almost exclusively in the Dallas restaurant economy, and I show how their restaurant employment affects their experiences as migrants in Dallas.
Yucatecans in Dallas
This study was conducted between 1997 and 1999. At that time, there were approximately 200-250 men, women, and children from Kaal, (1) Yucatan, living in Dallas; today, in 2005, there are even more. As of 1995, the population of the municipio (county) of Kaal was 5,621, of which 4,869 lived in the town itself (INEGI 1996). The primary economic activity in Kaal is henequen (sisal) production. People supplement their henequen income by farming milpa (plots) and consuming at least some of what they produce. Despite several government jobs, small-scale commerce, a few domestic positions for women, construction, and the kinds of activities just described, there is not sufficient economic opportunity in Kaal to meet subsistence needs. To support their families, many men migrate either to the capital city of Merida, to Cancun, or to the United States.
I surveyed 100 Kaaleno migrants in Dallas in a non-random snowball sample. The population surveyed included 37 women and 63 men (this included all the women in Dallas at the time of research). The age distribution of the surveyed population can be seen in Table 1. It is clear that this is a young population and that most of the women are in their child-bearing years. Fifty nine percent of the population are married, 11% are in consensual unions, 25% are single, while the remaining 5% are divorced, separated, or widowed. Of all married individuals surveyed, 76% had their spouses with them in Dallas and 24% had spouses in Mexico. (2) Sixty-five percent of those with children had all their children with them in Dallas. Twenty-four percent left their children in Mexico, while 11% had some children with them in Dallas and others in Mexico.
Both men and women have a similar level of education, slightly more than half of both groups having finished at least some middle school (secundaria). Those who have finished some elementary school (primaria) represent about 30% of both men and women interviewed.
In terms of legal status, 70% of those interviewed are undocumented and 30% are U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, or awaiting legal permanent residency. By gender, 77% of men are undocumented, whereas only 56% of women are without papers. This differential arises because many of the women have husbands who are legal permanent residents who were able to petition for their spouses to become legal permanent residents. If more men had been included in this sample, the ratio of undocumented to legal residency would increase because almost all the first-time migrants are undocumented, and most of them are men.
Most of the migrants in the sample arrived in the U.S. between 1992 and 1998 and, at the time of research, had been in the U.S. from less than a year to 6 years (see Table 2). Breaking down the figures for number of years in the U.S. along gender lines, women began to migrate in numbers proportional to men in 1992. Before 1992, women constituted considerably less than half the first-time migrant population. Despite the appearance of male-female equity in the post-1992 period, taking into account the fact that I surveyed the entire population of women in Dallas at the time but only a proportion of the men, it is clear that men predominate in this migration stream.
The Yucatecans in Dallas definitely have found their niche in the service industry. Men work in restaurants and hotels, while most employed women work as domestic employees. Luxury hotels and restaurants are plentiful in Dallas. As can be seen in Table 3, 91% of men work in restaurants or hotels. Of all of the Yucatecans who were working, 70% have at least one other Yucatecan working with them at their place of employment. Dividing this along gender lines, it becomes clear that men and women have considerably different employment circumstances in this regard: Among working men, 85% have other Yucatecans working with them, whereas only 30% of working women do. The median number of Yucatecans working with all Yucatecans is 4; this masks the significant differences between men (median = 5) and women (median = 2).
A much larger percentage of women than men is unemployed (35%). Compared to men, very few women work in restaurants, and those who do are most likely to work in fast food establishments. Women who were working in fast food restaurants earned an average of $5.12 per hour. The most common job for women is working en casa (as domestics), either cleaning homes or taking care of small children. Women are more likely to have informal employment and work off the books. In such circumstances, their pay is not taxed and they are paid in cash, with the average wage for women employed as domestics being $7.25 per hour.
Some women work for office cleaning companies, but these jobs are not very desirable because the hours (5:00-10:30 p.m.) are not concordant with childrearing nor is the pay (average $4.37 per hour) very good. A few women work in clothing factories and bus tables at the convention center during large events. The average income reported for all women is $6.52 per hour, about which is $0.57 less per hour than what men are earning.
The Yucatecans live close to where they work. Most either walk to work or take the bus. The wealthy neighborhood to the immediate east of their homes and the restaurants found in and near their neighborhood and close by offer a wide selection of employment. Despite the undocumented status of many of the Yucatecans, work is freely available. Sixty-three % of all employed individuals found their current jobs from a Yucatecan friend or relative. This finding was very different along gender lines: 72% of men found their current jobs from Yucatecan relatives and/or friends; whereas only 38% of women found their jobs the same way. Women were just as likely (38%) to have found their current jobs from non-Yucatecans as from Yucatecans, whereas only 8% of men found their jobs from non-Yucatecan friends or relatives. These data indicate that Yucatecan job networks are important for the whole population, but more important for men than for women.
The first person to migrate from Kaal to Dallas arrived in 1969. He journeyed with friends from another town but was the pioneer migrant from Kaal. Once established in Dallas, he returned to Kaal and encouraged others to join him, hence the start of chain migration from Kaal to Dallas. Before this Texas-bound migration, several men participated in the bracero program (which ended in 1964), working as agricultural laborers in California. Another man, who claims that his father was the first person to go to the United States from Kaal, explained that his father's work as a bracero laborer funded the successful tortilla-making business that the family still operates. The father sent money back to Kaal so that his sons could purchase the machinery necessary to begin producing tortillas for sale. Now, they have several stores and...
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