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Chinese
Support Bush's Immigration Policy Change
From the World Journal
January 20, 2004
President George W. Bush's announcement
earlier this month that he wants to grant temporary employment
visas to
undocumented workers has drawn attention from Chinese immigrants.
Leaders of Fujian immigrant associations and Meilin Xie, the
New York State representative to the Republican National Convention,
have initiated a letter-writing drive, calling on Chinese to
write to the White House and members of Congress to push for
the passage of the proposal.
The groups also expressed concerns
that some private agencies serving immigrants could cash in
on the surge of job applications and cautioned newly arrived
immigrants to look out for fraud.
The proposal aims to legalize
undocumented laborers to improve domestic safety, Xie said. Its
passage will greatly help Chinese
population, especially those exploited due to their visa status.
She said she hoped Chinese will give the proposal non-partisan
support, and that she will gather all the mailings and send
them to the White House.
Fred Fu, president of Flushing Chinese
Business Association, said he does not think the plan favors Chinese
immigrants.
It is aimed at Mexican workers, he said, but should be expanded
to cover Chinese people.
Immigrant group leaders said legalization
of undocumented workers would help reunite separated families,
improve public security
and increase tax revenue.
The leaders said there are more than
700,000 immigrants from Fujian in and around New York City, and
200,000 of them are
undocumented. Separated from their families, these workers
are under great financial and psychological strains. Passage
of the president's proposal will grant the workers documentation
and addresses, they said.
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Translated from Chinese
by Shasha Dai
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