Geographic Origins of Fujian Illegal Immigrants from China

Map of China showing Fujian Province, where most illegal immigrants originate.

Source: the U.S. Department of State's

I. Identification

1.     The Issue

Current issue of illegal immigrants from China to the US is the primary concern of the Department of State towards visa policy for Chinese tourists. It is one of the biggest barriers preventing Chinese tourists from getting B-2 visa (visitor visa for leisure purpose). By February, 2004, China has granted 28 countries the Authorized Destination Status (ADS) to allow Chinese tourists to visit those destination countries in groups. But until now the US has not shown any intention of obtaining the ADS from China. Unless the situation of illegal immigrants from China improves under the collaborative efforts between the US and China, the current visa policy of the US with respect to China is not to expected to change.

2.     Description

Background

On the early 19^th century, the first immigrants from China came to the US and began their American dreams generation after generation, totaling thousands of Chinese have continually immigrated to the US since that time. Today they have deep roots dating back to the last two centuries. Today, their contributions to the nation have been widely recognized along with other immigrants from the rest of the world. Their industriousness in realizations of their American dreams has become an inseparable part of the American legacy.

On the other hand, in spite of the significant improvement of their living standards, millions of people in the Mainland China still lead poorer lives when compared to Chinese immigrants to the US. This huge difference existing between the lives of the Chinese in the US and the Chinese in Mainland is still the major motivation for today’s immigration activities. Among these activities, some are through legal channel, while others, unfortunately, are carried out through illegal channels.

According to estimates from Weekly Reader Corp (Kwong, 1997, as cited in U.S. Department of State's 2004), 40,000 Chinese, mainly young men, enter the US illegally each year and disappeared into the big cities like New York, Los Angeles, etc. They risked both their lives and fortune for their American dreams, and many of them died before arrival to this dreamland. In order to come to the US, most of them paid $50,000 apiece to the smugglers and came either by ship or other means such as docking at a port in Mexico or Canada and slipping across the U.S. border. Their efforts often produced misery, death, and deportation back to China for the survivors. But despite this, thousands find ways to stay in the US each year and to wait for opportunities of becoming legal residents.

History of Chinese Immigrants

18th century or earlier: First documentation of Chinese immigrants to the United States

Mid-18^th century: Large scale immigration began due to the California Gold Rush.

1920: Chinese population in the US fell to a low of 62,000. The main causes for this fall are:

• The Naturalization Act of 1870 (this law was the first significant bar on free immigration in American history, making the Chinese the only culture to be prohibited to freely migrate to the United States for a time)
• Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 to prevent cheap labor
• The highly imbalanced male to female ratio (In 1860, the gender ratio of males to females was already 19:1. In 1890, the ratio widened to 27:1.)
• The thousands of immigrants returning back to China to bring back monetary support for their families

1943: Such events as the Chinatowns of US cities turning from crime and drug-ridden places to quiet, colorful tourist attractions, well-behaved and school conscientious Chinese children being welcomed by public school teachers, and China becoming allies with the US during World War II, all paved the way for the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act. As immigration from China resumed, mostly female immigrants came, and many, wives of Chinese men in the US. Many couples were reunited after decades apart.

Table 1: Immigrants from China:

                      Source: US Bureau of Census, Immigrants by Country of Birth

Current illegal immigrants from China

Since the 1970s, the Fujianese has come to the United States illegally from China. Many were able to take advantage of the amnesty programs offered by the US government in 1986 and 1990.

"These people have established a foothold," says Kwong (Kwong, 1997, as cited in U.S. Department of State's 2004). "Some of them did very well. And they are not facing the kind of problems as the newcomers." In a recent paper, Liang describes the trends of emigration from Fujian Province over time. According to his findings, in 1990, Fujian Province had already surpassed Guangdong, the province where most of the earlier immigrants came from starting on the 18^th century, (29,580 versus 18,688) and ranked third (after Shanghai and Beijing). By 1995, however, Fujian Province ranked first in the number of emigrants, sending 66,200 people (or 28% of China's emigrant population) abroad, and Guangdong ranked ninth, with only 7,200 emigrants. But in recent years, the number of illegal immigrants from other places in Mainland China is also increasing. "The smugglers are able to really expand new sources of people coming in," says Kwong (Kwong, 1997, as cited in U.S. Department of State's 2004).

Fujianese: the majority of illegal immigrants from China

At present, most of the illegal immigrants from Fujian Province worked in restaurants, garments factories, etc. Since most of Fujianese immigrants are poorly-educated, non-English speaking, and lack marketable skills, they have to work in restaurants or garment factories where they get paid from $3-4 per hour, 60-90 hours a week. It takes 3-5 years to pay back the cost for smuggling. It is not as high according to the pay standards in the US. (The US Federal government calls for workers to be paid a minimum of $5.15 per hour, but State laws vary.) But most of the illegal immigrants do not file their taxes since the employers usually are willing to pay them in cash which further institutionalizes their below standard salaries. That average salary in Fujian Province is CN¥ 4,890 (≈US$ 600) per year. (US State Statistical Bureau, 1994, as cited in Liang and Ye, 2001). That is to say they will earn as much as 20 times what they can earn in their home land, since the average savings per month is about $1,000.

According to Einhorn (US State Statistical Bureau.1994, as cited in Einhorn, 1994). as many as 100,000 Fujianese were living in New York in 1994 and an additional 10,000 enter each year. The exact number of Fujianese in New York today is difficult to obtain because the lack of documents for illegal immigrants. Their significant impact on the Manhattan’s Chinatown is noticeable. Fujianese-owned businesses, such as driving schools, dating services, service centers for naturalization, and employment agencies have sprouted on East Broadway in Chinatown. With a large influx of Fujianese into New York each year, the Fujianese, as new blood in Chinatown, are playing a greater role in the Chinese community and in many ways are rivaling the old-timers from Guangdong and Taiwan. Lii (New York Times, sec.13, pp. 1-2 and 11-12, "The City." July 28) noted that Fujianese have taken control of almost all the takeout places in the New York area that used to be owned by ethnic Chinese from Guangdong and Southeast Asia.

Why they risk their lives to come to the US?

To most of the illegal immigrants from China, seeking a better life is the primary reason for coming to the US. But from the study of Liang and Ye, escaping from poverty is not the absolute reason for Fujianese illegal immigrants, and the causes of this issue are more sophisticated than our understanding.

The Fujianese people are certainly poor according to the standard of living in the United States, but they are by no means poor compared to people in the rest of China. (US State Statistical Bureau, 1994, as cited in Liang and Ye, 2001) Enjoying its geographical advantage like other coastal provinces in China, Fujian has received relatively flexible economic policies and preferential treatment since 1978. The per capita income of Fujian's rural households rose to eighth place in China (out of thirty Provinces) in 1992 (compared with twelfth in 1978). Therefore, at the provincial level, there is no evidence that Fujian is poor compared with the rest of China.

In their research, Liang and Ye have identified another essential reason besides poorer lives of Fujianese in China. A sense of relative deprivation is causing Fujianese to make desperate attempts to migrate. The increased inequality in China makes people at the bottom feel a sense of relative deprivation and desperation to find ways to make money and become rich. Going to the United States, through either legal or illegal channels, is an alternative way of getting rich, they think. (US State Statistical Bureau, 1994, as cited in Liang and Ye, 2001) Under such circumstances, migration is perceived as "the thing to do" -- the only way that young people can advance economically (Portes, 1997, International Migration Review 31:799-825). In some villages in Fujian, almost 90 percent of the young people have gone abroad (Ye, 1995, p.1:28-36). Young people who are reluctant to go abroad are considered mei chu xi (no great future).

Other reasons, such as seeking political or religious asylums, escaping from birth-control policy from China, etc., also may explain part of the current issue of illegal immigrants from Fujian Province; however, a majority of above cases is just excuses for them to seek permanent resident status.

3. Related Cases

4. Author and Date: Qinbo Gao, April, 2004

II. Legal Clusters

5. Discourse and Status/Policy Issue:

Current US policy against illegal immigrants is primarily aimed at people from Mexico and other South American countries, since compared to them, the size of Chinese illegal immigrants is still to date a small portion. According to the estimation of INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) in 2000, up to 70% of the seven million illegal immigrants in the US are from Mexico. With an annual increase of half million, the illegal-alien population in 2003 will be at least eight million.

IMPACTS

Some of the negative impacts of illegal immigration follow:

• Overcrowded and under-funded schools
• Communicable diseases
• Increased health care costs
• Degraded health care service
• Higher auto insurance premiums
• Poverty 
• Lawlessness
• Social conflict
• Over-population
• Unemployment
• Lowered wages
• Vote fraud
• Increased crime
• Illegal drugs
• Environmental degradation
• Depletion of natural resources
• Loss of common language and culture
• Increased traffic congestion
• Higher taxes

Source: Illegal Aliens US

Other illegal immigrant origin countries include: Mexico, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Colombia, El Salvador, and Korea.

6. Forum and Scope/Existing Policy Framework:

o       International Asia, Europe, Australia, Americas,

o       National the US and China

o       Regional: Northeast in the US and Southeast coastal Provinces in China

o       Local: New York City, San Francisco and other US cities

7. Decision Breadth/Stakeholders/Policy Actors:

US, Chinese Governments/ Residents in both countries/ Legislative branch, Congress, Department of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc., of both countries.

8. Legal Standing/Legal Regulatory Framework/Suggested Policy Intervention:

Significant Historic Dates Affecting US immigration

Naturalization Act of 1790-Stipulated that "any alien, being a free white person, may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States"

1875-Supreme Court declared that regulation of US immigration is the responsibility of the Federal Government.

1882-The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited certain laborers from immigrating to the United States.

1885 and 1887-Alien Contract Labor laws that prohibited certain laborers from immigrating to the United States.

1891-The Federal Government assumed the task of inspecting, admitting, rejecting, and processing all immigrants seeking admission to the US.

1892-On January 2, a new Federal US immigration station opened on Ellis Island in New York Harbor.

1903-This Act restated the 1891 provisions concerning land borders and called for rules covering entry as well as inspection of aliens crossing the Mexican border.

1907-The US immigration Act of 1907 reorganized the states bordering Mexico (Arizona, New Mexico and a large part of Texas) into Mexican Border District to stem the flow of immigrants into the US.

1917 – 1924-A series of laws were enacted to further limit the number of new immigrants. These laws established the quota system and imposed passport requirements. They expanded the categories of excludable aliens and banned all Asians except Japanese.

1924 Act-Reduced the number of US immigration visas and allocated them on the basis of national origin.

1940 the Alien Registration Act-Required all aliens (non-US citizens) within the United States to register with the Government and receive an Alien Registration Receipt Card (the predecessor of the "green card").

1950 Passage of the Internal Security Act-Rendered the Alien Registration Receipt Card even more valuable. Immigrants with legal status had their cards replaced with what generally became known as the "green card" (Form I-151).
1952 Act-Established the modern day US immigration system. It created a quota system that imposes limits on a per-country basis. It also established the preference system that gave priority to family members and people with special skills.

1968 Act-Eliminated US immigration discrimination based on race, place of birth, sex and residence. It also officially abolished restrictions on Oriental US immigration.

1976 Act-Eliminated preferential treatment for residents of the Western Hemisphere.

1980 Act-Established a general policy governing the admission of refugees.

1986 Act-Focused on curtailing illegal US immigration. It legalized hundred of thousands of illegal immigrants. It also introduced the employer sanctions program that fines employers for hiring illegal workers. It also passed tough laws to prevent bogus marriage fraud.

1990 Act-Established an annual limit for certain categories of immigrants. It was aimed at helping US businesses attract skilled foreign workers; thus, it expanded the business class categories to favor persons who can make educational, professional or financial contributions. It created the Immigrant Investor Program.

USA Patriot Act 2001-Uniting and Strengthening America by providing appropriate tools required to intercept and obstruct terrorism

Creation of the USCIS 2003-As of March 1, 2003, the US immigration and Naturalization Service becomes part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The department’s new US Citizenship and US immigration Services (USCIS) function is to handle US immigration services and benefits, including citizenship, applications for permanent residence, non-immigrant applications, asylum, and refugee services. US immigration enforcement functions are now under the Department's Border and Transportation Security Directorate, known as the Bureau of US immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE)

Source: US Immigration Information

III. Geographic Clusters

9. Geographic Locations

a. Geographic Domain:

The US policies:

• "B-2" VISA: The B-2 visa is intended for tourist activities such as sight-seeing, visiting friends and relatives (VFR), obtaining medical treatment, and attending conferences and meetings. Visitors are not permitted to accept employment during their stay in the US. Applicants for B-2 visas may wish to bring to their interviews letters of invitation from friends or relatives in the United States, information confirming participation in a tour group or conference, and documentation demonstrating the applicant’s ability and intention, or that of friends or relatives in the United States, to support his or her travel and other expenses. Documentation establishing the applicant’s personal status, such as a marriage certificate, letters confirming employment, bank statements, pay slips, etc. is also useful. At present, Chinese citizens can’t directly apply and obtain B-2 visa and visit the US as tourists.
• Authorized Destination Status (ADS): ADS is a traveling agreement signed between China and other countries, enabling outbound Chinese tourists to travel in these foreign countries at their own expense.  By February, 2004, China granted 28 countries the Authorized Destination Status (ADS). These countries include neighbors like Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, India, Maldives, Nepal, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and long-haul European and African destinations like Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Egypt, and South Africa. Besides there, another dozen countries have also applied for the ADS from China and wait anxiously for the approval. Canada is one of these. Obtaining ADS from China has been identified by Price Water House Coopers as the most important issue for Canadian Tourism Commission (Price Water House Coopers, 2001, p.6). But China refused to grant ADS to Canada due to Canada’s political position on a volatile criminal case involving a Chinese citizen. In spite of the attractiveness and size of the tourist market in China, the US has shown no intention of getting ADS from China in the near future. Countries like the UK, Ireland, and Denmark are in the same situation.

• The Chinese Tourism Policies: From the viewpoint of the Chinese Government before July 1, 2000, all Chinese citizens wishing to travel abroad had to apply for a passport only valid for the journey in question. In principle, all travel had to be for business purposes, and applicants had to show an “invitation” from the host country; however, since July 1, 2000, Chinese citizens have been able to obtain passports without a letter of invitation, though they still have to obtain ”permission” or a Chinese visa for each journey. The Chinese Government therefore, has offered more freedom for outbound travelers and to many destinations. This is a good opportunity. 

b. Geographic Site:

The United States of America

c. Geographic Impact:

The United States of America

10. Sub-National Factors:

Fujian Province, China

Basic Data:

1. Name: Fujian Province

2. Area: 121,400 square kilometers

3. Population: 34.71 million (2000 population census)

4. Provincial Capital: Fuzhou City

5. Geography: Fujian Province is located in the southeast coastal area of China, between north latitude 23° 33' - 28° 20'and east longitude 115° 50' - 120° 43'. It adjoins Zhejiang Province in the north, Jiangxi Province in the west, Guangdong Province in the south, and faces Taiwan Province of China across the Strait between the two land masses.

6. Natural Resources: There are rich biological resources in Fujian Province. It is one of the main forestry zones in south China. Its forest-cover rate ranks first in the mainland, so it is named the Green Treasury. Its aquatic products are ample, and it also includes one of China's main fishing zones. There are lots of rivers, with fast drifting speed and large dropping elevations. And it ranks first in hydropower power in the east of China. Many mineral resources have been discovered, including iron, coal, manganese, and aluminum.

7. Economy: Fujian's economy has witnessed rapid development since China adopted opening and reform policies. The gross national product (GNP) of Fujian recently ranked at the top of China's provinces. In 2000, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Fujian reached 39.20 billion Yuan and the gross industrial and agricultural output value totaled 633.34 billion Yuan, with the GDP per capita being 11,601 Yuan. The total value of exports and imports was 21.223 billion US dollars in 2000. Government revenue reached 36.967 billion Yuan, with the grain output being 8.547 million tons. Currently, Fujian has 34 counties as special economic zones, economic, technological development zones, or economic open zones.

Table 2: Characteristics of Major Immigrant-Sending Regions in Fujian Province, 1993

Source: State Statistical Bureau (1994).

8. People's life: Based on 2000 statistics, the total wages of staff and workers reached 33.462 billion Yuan. The net per capita income for rural households was 3,230 Yuan. The average annual wage of staff and workers was 10,584 Yuan. The per capita annual consumption of staff and workers was an average of 5,638.74 Yuan; that of rural households 2,409.49 Yuan. The number of hospital beds was 2.73 per 1,000 and the number of professional medical personnel was 2.95 per 10,000. The savings deposit balance hit 176.759 billion. (United Nations. Population Program Database. 2003)

9. Education: At the end of 1997, Fujian had 28 institutions of higher education with 131,300 enrolled students and, 9,800 full-time teachers. For the secondary school, the numbers were 1,921, 2,335,000 and 120,700 respectively. The numbers for primary schools were 13,939, 3,691,000 and 183,500. (United Nations. Population Program Database. 2003)

Due to the large number of emigrants of young, male Fujianese people, the demographic characteristics of cities like Changle, Fuzhou, and Xiamen, have been significantly changed in the past 20 years.  The 1990 census showed that the proportion of unmarried males was higher than that of females and the gender ratio of the unmarried population was 152.45: 100. (United Nations. Population Program Database. 2003)

State of California,

The largest Chinatown outside China is San Francisco, California, where the first Chinese immigrants landed in America. The following is a brief history of Chinese immigrants in San Francisco.

1848
First Chinese immigrants- two men and one woman - arrive in San Francisco on the American brig, Eagle
1859
"The Chinese School" was created. Chinese children were assigned to this "Chinese only" school. They were not permitted into any other public schools in San Francisco.
1862
California’s Anti-Coolie Tax
1870
California passes a law against the importation of Chinese, Japanese, and "Mongolian" women for the purpose of prostitution
1870
Anti-Chinese ordinances are passed in San Francisco to curtail their housing and employment options. Queues are banned.

1874
Presbyterian Mission Home for Chinese women (later renamed Donaldina Cameron House) is established
1875
Page Law bars Asian prostitutes, felons, and contract laborers
1880
The US and China sign a treaty giving the US the right to limit but "not absolutely prohibit" Chinese immigration. California's Civil Code passes anti-miscegenation law. The first Chinese Baptist Church founded.
1882

The1882 Chinese Exclusion Act bans immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States and prohibits Chinese from becoming naturalized citizens
1885
The “Chinese School” was renamed the" Oriental School," so that Chinese, Korean, and Japanese students could be assigned to the school.
1900
Tung Wah Dispensary opens in Chinatown
1902
Chinese Exclusion Act extended for another 10 years

1904
Chinese Exclusion Act made indefinite

1908
Chinese Chamber of Commerce formed.
1910
Angel Island Immigration Station opens and operates as a detention and processing center for Chinese immigration; thousands of Chinese immigrants spend months detained, undergoing rigorous interrogations by U.S. immigration officials.
1911
Chinatown YMCA is established
1916
Chinatown YWCA is established
1921
Chinatown Public Library opens.
1924
The "Oriental School" was renamed Commodore Stockton School. Alice FongYu was the first Chinese teacher. Students were barred from speaking Chinese in school or on the playground.
1925
The Nam Kue School is built. The Tung Wah Dispensary is relocated and renamed the Chinese Hospital.
1927
The Chinese Playground is built
1943
The Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act is enacted by Congress and grants Chinese aliens naturalization rights
1963
Chinese Historical Society of America founded
1965
Immigration Act of 1965.
1966
First Miss Teen Chinatown Pageant
1982
First Chinese American women seen regularly on national television
1995
Immigration Reform Act of 1995
1998
Commodore Stockton Elementary School was renamed Gordon J. Lau Elementary School in honor of the late civic leader and advocate for the Chinese community
Source: Tiger Business Development

New York City

The Chinatown in Manhattan, New York City is currently the biggest community of illegal immigrants from Fujian Province, China. According to Einhorn (1994), as many as 100,000 Fujianese were living in New York in 1994 and an additional 10,000 enter each year. The exact number of Fujianese in New York today is difficult to obtain because the lack of documents for illegal immigrants. Their impacts on Manhattan’s Chinatown are significant. Fujianese-owned businesses such as driving schools, dating services, service centers for naturalization, and employment agencies sprouted in the East Broadway in Chinatown. With a large influx of Fujianese into New York each year, the Fujianese, as new blood in Chinatown, are playing a greater role in the Chinese community and in many ways are rivaling the old-timers from Guangdong and Taiwan. Lii (1996a,) noted that Fujianese have taken control of almost all the takeout places in the New York area that used to be owned by ethnic Chinese from Guangdong and Southeast Asia.

Today’s Chinatown is a tightly packed yet sprawling neighborhood that continues to grow rapidly despite the satellite Chinese communities flourishing in Queens. Both a tourist attraction and the home of the majority of Chinese New Yorkers, Chinatown offers visitor and resident alike hundreds of restaurants, booming fruit and fish markets and shops of knickknacks and sweets on torturously winding and overcrowded streets. (Waxman, Sarah. 2004)

11. Type of Habitat:

Traditionally, Chinese immigrants like to live in a bigger community. From the oldest Chinatown in San Francisco to the latest Chinese community in Flushing, New York, a significant amount Chinese work and live within the insulated society. The reasons are:

•  Language-barrier: Mostly non-English speaking, Chinese immigrants are afraid of going beyond the circle where they are more familiar. Getting lost, lack of safety and being discriminated are the potential threats to them from the “outside world”.
• Shared resources: By living together in the community, Chinese immigrants can have social lives similar to before they came. They will find jobs without being able to speak English, do shopping of Chinese commodities, dine out in restaurants which provide home style foods, have social activities when traditional festivals come, etc.   
• Reduced costs of living: Chinese immigrants traditionally like to live together. Apartments or townhouses packed with residents are very common among Chinese communities across the country.

IV. Trade Clusters

12. Type of Measure:

Illegal immigrants are major labor resources for restaurants, garment factories, dating services, driving schools, nannies, constructions etc. Their wages ranges from $5/hour to $20/hour. Living in the US, they not only have impact on the national labor market, but also they stimulate the import trade from China by consuming commodities made in China.

13. Relation of Trade Measure to Environmental/Tourism Impact

a. Directly Related to Product: The increasing Chinese immigrants in the US will stimulate the imports and manufacturing of Chinese commodities nationally. Due to completely different cultures and customs between the US and China, Chinese immigrants are more willing to keep their tradition and life style. To meet such demand, the US will either manufacture the Chinese commodities here or have them imported from China.  

b. Indirectly Related to Product: Illegal immigrants also have high demands like above. But their demands are more difficult to measure.

c. Not Related to Product: Commodities: food, clothing, living items, schools, etc.

d. Related to Process: International remittance of US currency back to China to support the families of illegal immigrants from China.

14. Trade Product Identification/Trade and Services:

Imports of commodities from China include food, clothing, shoes, books, magazines and other living necessities.

15. Economic Data

In year 2003, the US has a trade deficit of US$124 billion with China. (US Census Bureau, 2004)

16. Impact of Trade Restriction:

The international tourists have significant economic impact on the US economy. According to Edgell (1999), international tourists spend six times more than domestic tourists. In addition, expenditures of Chinese tourists in the US even tend to be as high as $5,500 (China International Travel Service, 1997). The absence of US as an Authorized Destination Status (ADS) country will largely limit the economic benefits brought by Chinese outbound tourists.

17. Industry Sector:

Restaurants, garment manufacturing, travel industry, etc.

18. Exporters and Importers:

Since Chinese tourist expenditures in the US are considered as exports, it will minimize the US-China trade deficit in a large scale. And the national economy will also be boosted by the consumption of Chinese tourists in tourism related industries. At the same time, the tourism souvenirs such as T-shirts, bags, and other kinds of shopping conducted by Chinese tourists will also increase the imports from China. By reducing such leakage, the US can maximize its economic benefits from outbound Chinese tourists in the future.

 V. Macro/Environment Clusters/Tourism Policy Clusters

19. Environmental Problem Type/ Environmental Aspects:

The high density of Chinese immigrants in Manhattan Chinatown, New York City has brought many huge effects on the community. Problems such as limited water resource, living space, traffic congestion, water and air pollution, wastage disposal and sewage systems, will be worse by 2020 when China becomes the fourth biggest tourist-country with 100 million outbound tourists each year.

20. Resource Impact and Effect:

Once the US is opened as an Authorized Destination Status (ADS) country to China, thousands of Chinese tourists will come to visit the US every year. It will worsen the current environmental situation due to the huge consumption of natural resources.

21. Urgency and Lifetime/Urgency and Policy Review: Medium

With the rapid economic growth in the past 20 years, China is under transformation from one of the poorest country to one of the world’s strongest economy. But even with such excellent performance of its national economy, China is still dozens of years behind most developed Western countries, especially the US. Today, the majority of Chinese people, and even those from well-developed cities and regions still consider immigration to the US as one of their biggest dreams. Underground smuggling of Chinese to the US started in the 1980s (Liang and Ye, 2001, chapter 7) and has increased to such a large population to be of grave concern to both the US and China today. 

22. Substitutes/Alternative Policies:

Some alternative policies in favor of illegal immigrants include permitting illegal immigrants the right to have driver’s licenses, health care, education, amnesty, etc.

VI. Conclusion

23. Policy Implications

Current US policy towards Chinese tourists, especially the absence of B-2 visa (visa for tourism purposes) for Chinese, will be the biggest barrier keeping Chinese tourism from entering the US. If the visa policy has no significant change in the near future, the outbound Chinese tourists to the US will be dragged in a large degree. The overseas market of Chinese tourist will be overtaken by other major international destinations, such as Australia, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France. The US will miss the good opportunity from the very beginning; however, it is still forecast by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) as the 7^th largest destination for Chinese outbound tourist in year 2020, following Hong Kong, Macau, Russia, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea.

24. Recommendations

To maximize the economic benefits brought by Chinese outbound tourists, the US should open to China as a destination for Chinese leisure tourists with B-2 visas. Cooperative relationships should be built up between the US and Chinese governments to have a better control over the issues coming along the Chinese illegal immigrants. Mutual understanding and goodwill are the foundations to tackle tourism policy issues involving international affairs. Lessons and experiences from current ADS countries, such as Australia, Germany, and Japan should be taken into consideration by the US when adopting new visa policies towards the future outbound Chinese tourists.

        VII Other Factors

25. Culture:

Immigration has contributed significantly to school overcrowding, traffic congestion, the health care crisis, environmental degradation, social tension, and other negative impacts on our country.  The new influx of immigrants from Fujian Province has significant impacts on the culture of the Chinese community.  The restaurant business of Chinatown in New York, for example, is under the control of Fujianese people since their population has surpassed that of early immigrants from Guanzhou Province after mid 1990s.

Since most of Fujianese people are pro-Chinese government compatriots, supporters of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the strength of previous dominant power supporting Kuomintang Party is weakened with the significant growth of Chinese from Mainland. (Kuomintang Party: the largest party in Taiwan. The Kuomintang Party was based in Guanzhou, also known as Canton, on the mainland in 1917, founding a government headed by Sun Yat-sen.)

26. Trans-Boundary Issues:

Trans-boundary issues include security, taxation, voting, education, health care, driver’s license etc.

27. Rights:

There have been long-term arguments on the rights for illegal immigrants in the US. Some people argue that since illegal immigrants are not taking responsibilities such as paying personal income taxes, they should not have the rights to possess driver’s licenses, education of children in schools, health care, etc. While the other people think that since they are also human beings, they should have those basic rights as legal residents in the US.

Take the recent issue of driver’s license as an example. “On April 6, Florida Governor Jeb Bush (Republican) has endorsed a bill to allow illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses, saying they are in the state anyway and officials should accept that fact…The issue comes up just four months after California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican, fulfilled a campaign promise by repealing a law that would have allowed an estimated 2 million illegal immigrant drivers there to begin applying for licenses…Last week, Illinois lawmakers rejected letting illegal immigrants obtaining driver’s licenses. Arizona legislators are moving to toughen the state’s requirement that driver’s license applications provide proof of authorized presence in the United States.” (Farrington, Brendan. 2004)

28. Relevant Literature

China International Travel Service (1997). Price list for traveling to the United States.

Edgell, David L (1999). Tourism Policy: The Next Millennium.

Einhorn, Bruce. (1994). Send Your Huddled Masses, and a Hot and Sour Soup. Business Week. Retrieved April 15, 2004 from http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/ea/chinaaliens/kwongexc.htm

Farrington, Brendan. (2004, April 7). Gov. Bush Backs Licenses for Immigrants. Washington Post, p. A32

Illegal Aliens. US. 2004. Impacts.  Retrieved April 15, 2004, from http://www.illegalaliens.us/impacts.htm

Immigration. The Journey to America-The Chinese. Retrieved April 15, 2004, from http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/index.html

Kwong, Peter. (1997). Forbidden Workers: Illegal Chinese Immigrants and American. Retrieved April 15, 2004, from http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/ea/chinaaliens/kwongstory.htm

Liang, Zai and Wenzhen Ye. (2001). From Fujian to New York: Understanding the New Chinese Immigration. Global Human Smuggling: Comparative Perspectives (Chapter 7). The John Hopkins University Press.

Lii, Jane H. (1996a). The Chinese Menu Guys. New York Times, sec.13, pp. 1-2 and 11-12, "The City." July 28.

Portes, Alejandro. (1997). Immigration Theory for a New Century: Some Problems and Opportunities. International Migration Review 31:799-825.

Price Water House Coopers. (2001). Research on the Chinese Outbound Travel Market Report for the Canadian Tourism Commission, March 2001.

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