ASAM reading journals paper

Conclusion

Inclusion or Exclusion?

November 2008 was unusually cold. New York was hit by a heavy snowstorm, adding

extra chill to the economic downturn. The nation’s job market suffered the largest one-month

drop since 1974 with the loss of a staggering 530,000 positions.[1] A recession, which had started

in the prior year, would soon be declared by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The

national economic crisis, however, did not seem to have had a direct impact on the influx of

undocumented Chinese immigrants. At least one thousand newcomers arrived in Manhattan’s

Chinatown before Thanksgiving, forming large crowds in front of employment agencies on East

Broadway Avenue. According to reports from Chinese language newspapers, many recent

undocumented newcomers first traveled from southern China to South America. From there they

were sent to Mexico or Canada through underground channels before crossing U.S. borders.[2]

During the Thanksgiving weekend the U.S. border patrol officers intercepted a beer truck and a

Dodge van in Sasabe, Arizona near the Mexican border and arrested fourteen Chinese on board

along with several Mexicans.[3] Those who escaped border inspection often went straight to

ethnic business centers in New York and California in search of jobs.

The timing of their arrival, says one news report, caused grave concerns for the Chinese

American community. The unemployment rate among Chinese Americans was on the rise and

some restaurants and firms in remote areas were expected to go out of business. Some thought

the presence of large numbers of undocumented workers could worsen the situation and drive

down wages. More worrisome was the potential damage to the image of the community. As the

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federal government linked border control efforts to national security, some were afraid of

unwanted attention.[4]

Such concerns surface when Chinese border crossers intercepted by government

authorities make the mainstream news. It is no secret that undocumented immigrants are

everywhere, but few in the Chinese American community like to discuss the issue in public. In

the spring of 2006, the immigration issue took the center stage of American national politics as

hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants and their supporters participated in

organized mass rallies and protests, but representatives of the Chinese American community

were largely absent.

The silence of Chinese Americans on immigration reveals the considerable ambivalence

within the community. The public outcry for more restrictive policies brought back bitter

memories of a time when all Chinese laborers were denied legal entry to the United States. Some

observers noted that the arguments against immigration presented at the congressional debate in

2005 were reminiscent of those made 129 years before, at a special joint congressional

committee investigating Chinese immigration in San Francisco.[5] More than one hundred

witnesses testified before the 1876 committee; not a single one of whom was Chinese. Details of

the hearing are published in a huge volume of congressional records, exhibiting the era’s strong

anti-Chinese sentiments and laying the ideological foundation for the enactment of the Chinese

Exclusion Act of 1882.[6] Though much of the current debate over immigration appears to be

focused around costs and benefits, racial sentiments have come out in the open from time to

time. There are concerns about the fast growing Hispanic and Asian populations, as some believe

that the rise of new minority groups will deplete already limited resources for existing minority

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groups.[7] Fears that American culture is fragmenting beyond repair and that American national

identity is being challenged are also rooted in race.

The issue of undocumented immigrants is particularly delicate for Chinese Americans

because of the pervasive negative image of the smuggled Chinese. As the public is preoccupied

with tragedies of human trafficking and sensational stories of exploitation, academic researchers

have also worked to confirm such fears by criminalizing unauthorized immigrants and making

their existence totally undesirable. One study, for example, reached back to the misleading

language of nineteenth century anti-Chinese immigration debates and used “coolie system” to

describe the ways that Fuzhounese from the Chinese mainland were smuggled to the United

States in the 1990s. Arguing that illegal border crossing is closely connected to kidnapping,

enslavement, and even murder, the study calls for laws to halt the “indentured migrant labor

trafficking” and efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute “suspected human smugglers.”[8]

More daunting is the attempt of a few scholars to link illegal entrants to the historical networks

established by the Chinese immigrant community to circumvent exclusion laws.[9] Some scholars

suggest that the only way for the government to effectively terminate the inflow of unauthorized

Chinese immigrants is to seek cooperation from a few illegal entrants: in exchange for amnesty,

these individuals would have to provide law enforcement officers with details of the smuggling

process, names of the smugglers, and serve as witnesses.[10] Such tactics are similar to those of

the Chinese Confession Program during the Cold War era.[11]

But those who are familiar with the Chinese American community know that accounts of

smuggled Chinese have been sensationalized and exaggerated, and that most of them hardly

apply to the general undocumented Chinese population. While the involvement of gangs and

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criminal activities was apparent in some cases, there is little evidence to suggest a connection

between undocumented immigrants and forced labor.[12] Many Chinese living in this country

without legal status are not conscious lawbreakers either, especially those who gained entry as

temporary visitors. The line between documented and undocumented immigrants can also be

ambiguous because some undocumented individuals are family members of permanent residents

or citizens. Moreover, some currently legal immigrants were undocumented not too long ago,

and others have not yet adjusted their status only because of “errors and delays by immigration

bureaucrats.”[13]

Sentiments toward undocumented immigrants are mixed within the ethnic community. A

woman who volunteered her time in a Chinese language school on Saturdays seemed to be

primarily concerned about public image: “They [the smuggled immigrants] have created a bad

impression not only for China, but also for all of us in the United States.”[14] In neighborhoods

where family motels operate, residents expressed their frustrations and blamed the

undocumented immigrants for the problem.[15] Even the undocumented do not necessarily want

more company, for fewer people also mean less competition. As one said, “Too many

newcomers. We are fighting for each other’s rice bowls.”[16] Acknowledging that low-cost labor

is crucial for their businesses, some entrepreneurs worried about not being able to find affordable

employees. “I can’t raise prices or my customers would walk away,” said one restaurant owner.

“What else can I do to keep the business going?”[17] Economic benefits aside, many who have

hired or worked with undocumented laborers find it very hard to see these immigrants as

criminals. “These are good kids,” said one business owner who claimed to be a friend of several

young workers in a neighborhood restaurant. “These are honest, hardworking, and respectful

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human beings. They could have had a lot going for them if legal status was not the issue. My

heart goes out to them.”[18]

The legal criminalization of unauthorized immigrants, however, has pressured many to

keep a distance from them in public. Even immigrant advocates sometime find it unwise to

include the undocumented in their pursuit of social justice because the very existence of these

“illegals” contradicts the positive image of Chinese Americans as law-abiding citizens. Since

completely denouncing the undocumented is not easy, it is almost a blessing for the community

that many individuals remain hidden. As the Hispanic community takes much of the heat in the

national debate, silence seems to be the best option for Chinese Americans. After all, lack of

organization among the undocumented means that this group of individuals is less capable of

making collective demands, and that they are likely to accept their unrecognized existence.

The Chinese American community has changed significantly since the late 1960s. The

struggles against exclusion and for racial equality that provided the momentum for ethnic

solidarity in the past no longer take center stage in community life. By publicizing its very best

and brightest, the community has improved its own image, which has perpetuated a successful

stereotype of the ethnic group as a model minority. It is understandable that we do not want

undocumented immigrants to ruin our celebratory mood and hard-earned triumph. However,

maintaining a silence on the issue of undocumented immigrants is to see some some of our

fellow immigrants as “others,” which also helps conceal inequality within the community

between the more privileged and more disadvantaged groups.

It is ironic that the Chinese American community of the twenty-first century would

choose to stay quiet on the issue of immigration, and that some Chinese American scholars

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would use the legal and illegal dichotomy in their academic endeavors. A look back at history

reminds us of a time when the Chinese were legally inadmissible to the United States; even

family members of immigrants, including wives of U.S. citizen were denied entry at America’s

gate. History also reminds us that during the long and dark six decades of exclusion, at the height

of nativist sentiment, the ethnic community utilized all of its resources and mounted legal and

legislative campaigns challenging discriminatory laws. Many of the early immigrants spoke little

English, but they were able to see the limitations of the laws. They achieved impressive success

largely because the entire community was mobilized, because no opportunity was missed, and

because no one was excluded. The community’s ability to negotiate with law-enforcement

officials and legislators under difficult circumstances marks an important chapter in Chinese

American history, one that should not be forgotten too soon.

Contemporary Chinese America is a majority immigrant community. Most immigrants,

documented or undocumented, embarked on a long journey to America for similar reasons.

Yamei, Lao Wu, Fei, Lily and hundreds and thousands of other undocumented immigrants came

to the United States because they were attracted by the freedom, democracy, and greater

opportunities that the United States has to offer. Their dreams to build a better future for their

children in America are similar to that of the middle-class Chinese American parents who

attended college admissions programs in Los Angeles. Today, the nation continues to struggle

with the old “subject of inclusion or exclusion.” Since the majority of Chinese Americans can

now comfortably claim ourselves as part of the mainstream, we must ask some tough questions:

do we really want to set a boundary between “us” and “them” and deny rights to those “illegals,”

as had been done to all Chinese in the past?[19] Is racial equality and social justice possible

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without tearing down the wall that separates members of our own ethnic community? Do we, as

middle-and upper-class Chinese Americans, have any moral obligations to the laborers who have

served us food in restaurants, packed fruit and vegetables in grocery stores, remodeled our homes

and mowed our lawns, and taken care of our young children and aged parents so that we could

enjoy more leisure and move more swiftly up the social ladder? Is preserving a positive image of

the community more important than such obligations?

What direction Chinese immigration will take in the years to come is yet to be seen. A

world-wide economic downturn can affect Chinese migration in complicated ways and could

pull it in opposite directions. China’s declining rate of growth due to falling exports may push

more of her unemployed citizens out of the country, and some may try harder to come to the

United States. But an economic recession in the United States may reverse the trend, making

prospective emigrants wonder whether America still provides better opportunities. The recession

will force many companies to go out of business, and ethnic enterprises are not immune to such

pressure. The shrinkage of American’s purchasing power, however, may also mean that

consumers have to shop more carefully, making good bargains offered by ethnic businesses even

more attractive and demand for low-cost labor more persistent.[20] In any case international

migration is caused by many factors. Inflow of Chinese immigrants, authorized and unauthorized

alike, will probably slow down, but the economic recession will not bring it to an abrupt end.

What we have to confront is the reality that undocumented immigrants are far more integrated

into the Chinese American community than has been publicly acknowledged, and that to

continue to marginalize them is to completely ignore the history of Chinese immigration in the

United States and the historical contributions of the Chinese to American society.

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