Editor’s note: This article, translated from wenxuecity.com, discusses the recent decline in Chinese illegal immigration to western countries and the growing trend of immigrants choosing to return to China. The article points to the recent economic crisis and period of recovery in the West and compares it to China’s own growing economy as main contributing factors.

As China grows as an economic powerhouse, the US is suffering from a financial crisis and European nations are struggling through the debt crisis in the EU. The number of Chinese illegal immigrants to the US and Europe has greatly reduced in the past years to the extent that some are even choosing to return to China.

The Global Times pointed out that throughout the past 30 years, low-skilled Chinese immigrants have made a living in the food and beverage industry in Western Europe, Eastern Europe's wholesale and retail industries, and Southern Europe's textile and leather industries. Many of these Chinese immigrants are illegal immigrants.

In the United States, Chinese illegal immigrants now mainly cross over by land instead of by sea. However, the number of Chinese illegal immigrants has overall been reduced in the past years and there is a growing number of Chinese immigrants choosing to return to China.  

Photo: Connie Ma

In November 2010, six Chinese illegal immigrants were found in the United States hiding in cargo transport vehicles in Los Angeles. Since then, there have been no other public reports of Chinese illegal immigrants caught in the United States. Since 2005, there have only been three incidents of Chinese illegal immigration that have been publicly reported in the United States.

United States attorney Deng Hong said that in the 1980s, large numbers of Chinese illegal immigrants were smuggled into the United States. In the early 1990s, many Chinese from provinces on China's southeast coast like Fujian and Guangdong were smuggled by boat to the United States. Later on, smuggling by boat became a less popular option. About five or ten years ago, Chinese illegal immigrants began to enter the country from Mexico, other Central American countries, and South America.

In 2010, a sign was put up on the United States-Mexico border in Texas in English, Spanish and Chinese. The sign warned against illegal immigration. Local border patrols in the United States said that in 2001, the same sign was only in English. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported that Chinese illegal immigrants are the second largest population of illegal immigrations in the United States. From 2006 to 2010, the number of Latino illegal immigrants increased by 95 percent and the number of Chinese illegal immigrants increased by only 0.3 percent.

Well-known American lawyer Long Gang said that there are less Chinese illegal immigrants crossing into the United States in recent years because of China's rapid development combined with the US economy's downturn. Many Chinese living in the United States have recently returned home because of new employment opportunities created by Chinese investment in entrepreneurship and technology. Many students who studied abroad in the United States return after graduation because the difficulty of getting a work visa. Others who have worked in the United States for some time have decided to take their savings and return to China in order to find work or develop a business.

There are some people in the United States to work with the point of savings, and ultimately return to the development in the case of identity solve hopeless. This two-way momentum will continue for the future.

In recent years, Chinese illegal immigrants had to change the methods through which they entered the United States. Deng Hong said that a few years ago, Mexico introduced an M enterprise visa to attract foreign workers. However, this M visa soon became an important tool for Chinese immigrants hoping to enter the United States. Chinese illegal immigrants would spend twenty thousand Yuan to purchase an M visa and then legally enter Mexico. Illegal immigrants who used this method were mainly young Chinese whose parents planned on following them to the United States after they were on their feet. The Chinese illegal immigrants would work in Mexico or just stay for a while and then sneak into the United States with the help of smugglers. They would cross the US-Mexican border to Texas, Arizona or California. Two years after its creation, Mexico canceled the M visa scheme. Many Chinese illegal immigrants now first go to Belize, Haiti, Colombia and other Latin American countries. It is easier for Chinese people to get visas to these countries. The illegal immigrants would then travel to Mexico and then be smuggled into the United States.

Chinese illegal immigrants also often enter the United States with a travel or temporary visa and then overstay and attempt to get a green card. Deng Hong said that in the past, Chinese immigrants would often pay high prices to obtain a false invitation letter to the United States in order to obtain a business visa. Many of these immigrants who buy these letters would often be laid-off or unemployed and find work in a restaurant, driving a taxi or doing physical labor while in the United States. Now, Chinese illegal immigrants often apply for a tourist visa and then never return to China. In recent years, students have been overstaying their visas as well.

Chinese illegal immigrants in the United States have no green cards or identification so they face many hardships. They often work in restaurants, construction, moving and other labor-based industries. Even Chinese people who try to enter the United States on a legitimate visa face obstacles, because of language and cultural barriers. Chinese illegal and legal immigrants to the United States often must start their lives over from scratch upon arrival.

The head of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee in Los Angeles said that they have had some experiences with Chinese illegal immigrants but could not make an evaluation of the entire situation. The existence of illegal immigrants should have been fully evaluated by this point in time. The Chinese consulate in the United States should also be in a position where they are able to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in the United States.

Spain: High Employment Scares Away Illegal Chinese Immigrants

In order to combat illegal immigration to Spain, Spain police and television teamed up to shoot a documentary titled “Snakeheads” on Chinese illegal immigration and labor trafficking. Retired police officer James Rodriguez said that after 1992, a large number of Chinese illegal immigrants were smuggled into Italy, Spain, France and other countries through Yugoslavia. Spanish police followed Chinese smugglers for 24 hours in order to film the entire process of the smuggling operation. After the documentary aired, many pro-immigration groups called on the Spanish government to help Chinese illegal immigrants because they saw that the immigrants only wanted to make money and not commit crimes. Because of this, the Spanish government carried out a general amnesty towards Chinese illegal immigrants.

In 1992, after a successful Olympic Games, Spain granted this amnesty to illegal immigrants on an unprecedented scale. Chinese people were coming into Spain in high numbers at the time of the Barcelona Olympics. James Rodriguez was the chief of police and in charge of the audit staff in charge of amnesty applications. In 1991, 4 million Chinese immigrants were approved for amnesty to Spain. The immigrants were mostly from Qingtian, Zhejiang and Wenzhou.

Tito Garcia, who worked in the criminal investigation department for immigration officers, said that the illegal Chinese immigration population in Spain has changed a lot since 2000. Now, there are barely any immigrants from Wenzhou, Zhejiang and Qingtian. Illegal immigrants are now mainly from Liaoning and Shandong. They often get a business or tourist visa to France or Germany and then continue to Spain. Zhejiang now has a younger population, and Chinese illegal immigrants from the northeast are mainly women between 35 and 45 years old. Chinese immigrants now are mostly laid-off workers who want their children to study in Spain. The women work in the homes of other Chinese nationals as housekeepers with their children.

There are currently about 200,000 Chinese nationals living in Spain and approximately 20,000 of them are illegal immigrants.

Garcia said that with the current economic crisis, there are 4 million unemployed citizens in Spain. With such high unemployment numbers, it is difficult for foreign illegal immigrants to find work. The Spanish police have also strengthened the punishments for employers who hire illegal immigrants. Employers face fines of hundreds of thousands to millions of Euros and even prison time for hiring illegal immigrants. A police officer who requested anonymity said that there are now fewer illegal immigrants in Spain than before. The appeal for Chinese citizens to go abroad to find work is slowly fading because of China's rapid economic development. Many immigrants have also chosen to return home to China to make money. There are also tens of thousands of Spanish citizens in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities in order to find employment and earn money.

Italy: Crackdowns on Illegal Immigrants and Economic Troubles

On December 24, 1999, 20 year old Ping from Lishui, Zhejiang, first arrived in Italy. It took Ping a number of years to complete her journey. Recently, we spoke to Ping about her experience as an illegal immigrant. She is now 36 years old.

In the end of August, 1998, Ping paid 140,000 Yuan that her family had scrimped and saved to lend her, to a group of smugglers to take her to the West. She was with a group of eleven others. They took the train to the northeast and were checked into a small hotel. One week later, on a dark night with no moon or stars, the smugglers told the group to throw away all of their baggage because they were going to leave. Everyone tried to wear as many items of clothing on their bodies as they could so they did not have to throw it away. Each of them wore three or more pairs of underwear.

The group followed the smugglers to the foot of a mountain and went into a forest. They climbed up a hill. Suddenly, a girl in the group, A Li, cried out and fell to the ground. Ping wanted to carry her the rest of the way, but the smugglers said that A Li had been bitten by a snake and they needed to leave her there to die. A Li cried and did not want everyone to leave and forget about her. She said, “If you can, tell my parents not to let my brother sneak out of the country.” Without having a real chance to say goodbye to A Li, Ping was hurried along by the smugglers.

Finally, the group climbed the mountain before dawn and stopped to rest in a basement. The immigrants were locked in the basement for the next day. Finally, they were put on a truck after waiting for a long time in the basement and were taken to Yugoslavia. When they were ready to travel again, after a while in Yugoslavia, the smugglers had been replaced by a group of Germans. After the group was held in Germany for some time, they were passed to a group of Italian smugglers. After having passed through three different “transit stations,” Ping finally arrived in Italy.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Ping's hometown of Zhejiang was a hotbed of illegal immigrant smuggling. There was a massive smuggling network in place and large number of illegal immigrants passed through it into Europe.

In the late 1980s, many Chinese immigrants worked in restaurants in Europe. In the early 1990s, Chinese immigrants to Italy worked in the clothing industry. Large numbers of garment factories popped up in Italy and hired illegal immigrants and immigrants flocked to Italy to work at them. In the late 1990s, large numbers of Chinese workers were laid off in northern Chinese cities. After this, large numbers of northern Chinese entered Italy on business trips in order to find work illegally in the country.

In the 21st century, the rise of business trips, overseas travel and study abroad meant that smuggling networks were not the only option for illegal immigrants. Most illegal immigrants now go through proper channels in order to enter a country but overstay their visas or allotted time.

Many people initially smuggled into Italy from China have since been granted legal status. However, this did not come without a struggle. They can apply for family reunification so that their loved ones can join them abroad. Now, those who sneak in the country illegally are looked down on and there are Chinese nationals that have lived in Italy for many years.

In 2009, the European economic crisis began. The Italian economy dove sharply and there were very few job opportunities in Italy, even for Italian citizens. Many Italian citizens even began to work in Chinese restaurants and bars owned by Chinese immigrants. Italy's rising taxes, combined with the tightening of illegal labor laws, forced the closure of many Chinese factories. However, at the same time, the Chinese economy was on the rise. Many wealthy factory bosses in Italy gave up on the industry and decided to sell.

Source: wenxuecity.com

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Keywords: Chinese illegal immigrants Chinese immigrants in the West