R. Raijman, S. Schamma-Gesser and A. Kemp
Gender and Society, Vol. 17 (5) (pp.727-749). ISI: 2.765, Rank: 1/38 in Women’s Studies Q1; 12/139 in Sociology Q1 Reprinted in Mary Zimmerman, Litt Jacquelyn and Christine Bose (Eds.) 2006 Global Dimensions of Care Work and Gender. California: Stanford University Press.
Publication year: 2006

This article discusses three major dilemmas embedded in women’s labor migration by focusing on undocumented Latina migrants in Israel. The first is that to break the cycle of blocked mobility in their homelands, migrant women must take jobs that they would have never taken in their countries of origin, despite uncertainty about possible economic outcomes. The second dilemma is that the search for economic betterment leads Latina migrants to risk living and working illegally in the host country, forcing them to remain on the margins of society. The third dilemma relates to the role of mothers who, to secure a better future for their children, are forced to leave them behind, thus subverting the traditional definition of motherhood. The absence of an egalitarian notion and the practice of citizenship for non-Jews leave undocumented labor migrants in Israel without prospects for incorporation into the society.