I've worked in three countries without legal permission, and in each of them I've
been exploited a bit.
• At a restaurant in Spain, I worked unpaid hours — as did everybody, take it or leave it. The passport was a factor, as it was for most of my co-workers, undocumented South Americans.
• In Ireland, even after I had received a tax number and was quasi-legal, I experienced various forms of treatment that assured me that the employer was in a position to treat me as she or he wanted to.
•
I was in Nijmegen, possibly the most liberal city in The Netherlands, arguably one of the most liberal countries in the world.
I had a job at an organic bakery.
The owner was good to me. He gave me opportunity. He even wanted to help me work legally.
But exploitation can happen without intent.
One day, talking with myself and another baker about allotment of hours, he suggested that I would probably take whatever I could get.