ABSTRACT
The experiences of those who migrate to the U.S. vary dramatically. Many factors contribute to these, but none of them can be said to be located solely within the individual. Rather, these factors are structural in character. Where one migrates from, how that location is situated in the broader geopolitical concerns of the U.S., as well as how that location fits into the broader global capitalist economy; how one’s formal educational qualifications are judged within the U.S.; how one is racialized and gendered; and, last but by no means least, how one is classified and positioned by the state in its hierarchy of differential statuses (citizen, permanent resident, refugee, temporary ‘guestworker’ or ‘illegal’) all have enormous consequences for the labour market (and other life) experiences of (im)migrants.1
