To many immigrants, the dream of coming to the United States to seek a better life quickly transforms into a nightmare of forced labor and unfair wages. Many Americans remain oblivious to these conditions, relying on the reassurances provided by American wage and hour laws. However, many immigrants cannot avail themselves of the protections provided by those laws because they may not be legally in the United States. Furthermore, even documented immigrants can have trouble finding jobs, due to language, educational, and cultural barriers. In those instances, they often work as contract laborers, and wage and hour laws no longer apply to them.

             Contract labor is not a new concept. In fact, "labor contractors were first used in Philadelphia in the 19th century when builders needed more workers and turned to some enterprising Italian-Americans who knew where to find newly arrived countrymen." (Greenhouse, December 2003). Garment manufacturers followed in the path of construction managers, giving rise to today's sweatshops. These contractors have used two tactics to stay in business; they can underbid competitors because they violate wage and hour laws, and they prey on particular immigrant populations, using their knowledge of language and customs to exploit their workers. .

             Big business is in on the contract labor scam. For example, a raid on a Wal-Mart store unveiled more than 200 illegal immigrants on the cleaning crew. Wal-Mart disavowed responsibility, claiming that they were unaware of the workers' undocumented status. (Greenhouse, December 2003). Further, Wal-Mart claimed to be ignorant of the contractor's practice of routinely violating labor laws, such as failing to pay overtime or social security taxes. (Greenhouse, December 2003). To understand the living conditions of the contract worker, it is not enough to simply look at their wages, which are often below federal and state minimum wage requirements, but to look at the reality surrounding their work conditions.