Yellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America

4: Immigration: Huddled Masses

4 Immigration Huddled Masses StillSearchingforGoldMountain Asian Week, June 18, 1993 The smuggling of Chinese nationals into the United States is a complicated story that embraces economic inequities across the Pacific Ocean, sophisticated criminality, American xenophobia, and confusion and anguish in Chinese American communities. One shouldn’t blame the thousands who’ve endured appalling and unspeakable conditions in their naive quest for the American Dream The Chinese smuggling phenomenon is a continuing drama in the great human search for economic (and, perhaps, political) betterment. China is undergoing astonishing economic growth. But with more than 1.2 billion people, China is still backwards compared with modern industrial standards. While capitalism is thriving in cities and regions along China’s eastern and southeastern coastlines, the economic boom isn’t reaching everyone. The dangerous human-cargo trade is centered in Fujian province. Economic conditions are improving there, knowledgeable people tell me, but they are still dire compared with America’s wealth and opportunities. For many years, Fujian immigrants have made the trip and ended up principally in New York City. The costs are high for those doing it illegally— about $30,000, with $1,000 or so down, the rest a debt they work off over years in low-paying jobs in restaurants and garment sweatshops. For many of them, if not most, this paltry existence is better than what they left. People who’ve been to China recently tell me they see the fruits of capitalism blossoming, but not everyone is benefiting. The same folks who 64 waved Mao’s red book—the petty bureaucrats—are now figuratively waving Adam Smith’s manifesto of capitalism. Corruption is a growth industry . Dirt-poor rural Chinese may be doing better in city jobs but are still earning little by Western standards, if they can find work. So America’s “gold mountain” appeal continues to beckon to people willing to risk life and limb to do better. Chinese and other Asian gangsters are more than willing to help them. These are the smugglers and enforcers who bribe government officials, in China, other Asian countries , and likely in Africa, Mexico, and Central America, to make the multinational illegal trade possible. Their greedy profiteering is easy to denounce but not easy to shut down, as corruption is rampant. The smugglers can play very rough if they don’t get their money, either from the person being smuggled or from relatives who’ve promised to help. It is a nasty business, and it’s hard to imagine anyone outside the crime syndicates who wouldn’t condemn such inhumane activities. Some civil rights activists are reluctant to denounce the smugglers because they occasionally serve a noble purpose: getting out people truly seeking refuge from political persecution. Smugglers exploiting naive economic refugees don’t deserve our sympathy. Then there are other exploiters , employers who ask no questions about the next pool of very cheap labor. They too should be held accountable by the U.S. government . There is no unanimity of views within Chinese American and other Asian American communities about the smuggling. Some deplore the inhumane treatment aboard the rickety ships. Some are confused and anguished over the seemingly never-ending supply and demand of the human-cargo trade. As for the Fujianese themselves, some may be doing okay. Others can’t find jobs because the recession has hit New York’s Chinatown. They scatter to other Chinatowns in nearby states. Even exhortations from those who have come before and who have had a very rough time of it don’t appear to stop others from coming. Some Chinatown observers theorize that’s because previous Fujianese illegals want to save face, so they don’t tell the whole truth about the harsh realities of an underground existence in America. Or maybe, the Fujianese villagers, desperate to make good somewhere, simply don’t hear the negatives of American life and only can envision streets paved in gold. Still Searching for Gold Mountain 65 Social-service agencies feel ambivalent and angry about the rush of illegals because, eventually, the demand for services increases without a concomitant increase in funding. Moreover, legal immigrants are feeling frustrated at seeing the illegals alight while documented immigrants wait patiently for years to bring over their relatives through legal channels. Civil rights advocates are rightly concerned about whether the illegals are getting due process. While the immigrants are likely to ask for political asylum, coached...