Latinos are “better” immigrants (but that doesn’t mean they are “good”)

Paid domestic work mostly belongs to the informal economy and it requires employees to have an individualized relationship with their employer in a very intimate setting. I think that to fully understand the relationship forged between employers and employees, it is necessary to understand the relationship from both sides. By attending SEDOACs workshops, seminars, and more general events, I have been able to get a grasp of their preoccupations and demands. For this reason, I wanted to interview employers to get a better sense of how the domestic work sector functions in Madrid. At first I was afraid that employers would respond with stereotypical answers to my questions due to social desirability and the fact that I am Latin American. In general, however, they were very ‘open’ with their answers, in the sense that they were not very preoccupied about offending me about what they really thought about Latin Americans. It also became evident to me that Spanish employers were comfortable voicing their opinions about Latinos because they still ‘worked’ with them, or could have a ‘civil’ relationship with them, and that was proof –according to them- that there was no xenophobia from their part. Contrarily, their differences were such with Maghrebi immigrants that no relationship could be built at all. In other words, Latinos were the ‘better immigrants’. More than half of the employers I interviewed did not necessarily had the highest opinion of Latinos, but they affirmed that they could definitely not work with Muslim domestic workers. The following summary is about the interview I did to Carla, the wife of an executive. When I asked her about bad experiences she had had, she said that she had had bad experiences with Philippines, and then she proceeded to recount the bad experience she had with one Phillipine. It seems to me that a bad experience with an individual makes them think negatively about the whole collective. This woman also told me that Latinas tend to be great with children and very affectionate, but that they are not good cleaners. For this reason, employers tend to want to hire Latinas if they need a nanny but seek Eastern Europeans if they only need someone to clean. Carla said Rumanians are very responsible, clean, on time, and more “correct” than Latinas. However, since Rumanians are not affectionate, employers prefer to hire Latinas if they have small children.  Carla also mentioned that cultural affinity is very important in the workplace. She said that Moroccan women are not hired because their culture and religion are too different. For example, the veil is a problem for some employers. Also, Ramadan apparently is a reason why employers do not want to hire Muslim women (it is thought that they become too tired so they can’t clean). Carla also said that some people are afraid to hire a Muslim because you need to be careful with “those people”. However, I heard another employer I interviewed say that she was afraid of Latinas because it is very possible that they steal from you. In regards to cultural affinity, Carla said that Rumanians are fine people: they are educated and cultured. The problem is that in their country the economy is not good. However, she then stated that Madrileños complain all the time because Latinos come here to take advantage of the sanitary system and public schooling. So leaving your origin country to find a better paying job is acceptable for Rumanians but not for racialized people.