Drawing on in-depth interviews with 45 Latinos living in a small city the author calls Sycamore City, the author examines the discourses and practices through which Mexican migrants and Puerto Ricans deal with the “dirty work” of illegality. The focus is on the “physical dirty work” performed by undocumented workers and “social dirty work” performed by workers on the margins of citizenship. This research shows that “physical dirty work” and “social dirty work” overlap when a new class of worker enters the labor market. As such, the author documents the dirty work undocumented workers perform and the ethnoracial distinctions used to gain self-worth while performing physical dirty work. In addition, this article shows that as citizens, Puerto Rican professionals offer discreet assistance when they encounter undocumented migrants. In providing assistance, these professionals diminish citizen-migrant distinctions.
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