In the year of presidential elections, illegal immigration continues to be one of the main problems of US domestic policy. According to Voice of America, a poll conducted in Iowa by the New York Times shows that about 90% of Republicans and 60% of Democratic voters consider the situation in this area very serious. As a rule, the debate centers on illegal immigration from Latin America, but the problem also concerns other ethnic groups. Including those from Southeast Asia.
According to the US Census Bureau, there were 46,000 Asian immigrants in Orange County, Florida; 13,000 of them arrived in the last six years, most without permanent residency. This picture cannot be considered an exception, says immigration lawyer Agnes Cho: "The US now has 12 million illegal immigrants, almost 9% of them are from Asia."
It should be said that estimates vary. According to the Pew Center, in 2005, Asians accounted for 25% of foreign-born residents in the US, and the number of illegal immigrants from that region was 13%.
Can a group portrait of Asian immigrants be drawn? Agnes Cho believes yes, at least in Orange County: "As a rule, these are people who did not have the opportunity in their home country to master the profession they would like to choose. They are distinguished by diligence in work and the desire to give their children a good education, even at the cost of limiting all other expenses."
Professor Robert Moore of Rollins College in Orlando, Florida agrees with this assessment. As he notes, Asians are more affluent than illegal immigrants from Latin America: "Hispanic immigrants mainly join the working class, while Asians gravitate toward entrepreneurship."
Robert Moore cites the example of New York's Chinatown, where tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from China, India, and Indochina settle. Many pay smugglers to enter the US without proper documents. The price for such a service in some cases reaches $60,000. "Such high incomes encourage smugglers to constantly look for new ways of transportation that do not attract the attention of authorities. Thus, the influx of illegals does not stop," Moore adds.
The main supplier of illegal immigrants to America has become China's Fujian province. According to Moore, this is due to the liberalization of the Chinese economy, which left hundreds of thousands of peasants redundant. Their land plots are being taken away by new entrepreneurs, and they themselves cannot find employment in the city. Moore believes that in the future, the increase in the welfare of China's population will lead to a decrease in the number of people seeking to leave the country.
Earlier this year, the US Congress failed to reach a consensus to pass immigration legislation that would open the prospect of legal status for illegals. Its absence continues to cause anxiety among Asian immigrants, despite their apparent well-being.