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Number
of Illegal Korean Immigrants from China Increases
From JoongAng
April 13, 2004
By Joon Yong Ahn
An increased number of ethnic Koreans from China
have been entering the United States through illegal channels.
Ms. Kim, 32 years of age, said she left Beijing early in April
and arrived in New York. It cost her over $35,000 to come to America.
A few years ago, it cost only around $20,000.
“Nowadays, if you want to come to America, you need between
$35,000 and $40,000 at least,” Kim said, “I paid the
money to the broker via a bank account in China immediately after
I arrived
here.”
Kim works nights and is not optimistic about her future. “I
thought I could achieve the American Dream and make lots of money
once I come here, but in reality, it’s really hard to make
a living,” she said.
According to sources, the cost of illegal
migration from China to the United States varies depending on
the channels. It costs
a lot more to travel from Southern China than from Northern China,
and the trip poses more danger for the migrants. The cost of
trip to the United States from China also differs from that of
trip
to the United States from Korea.
That trip costs most ethnic Korean Chinese around $10,000, paid
to the broker.
In the meantime, as emigration rises, new kinds
of social problems have arisen in the ethnic Korean community
in China.
Recently,
a local news media from Jilin, China, reported that, for
example, babysitting businesses are booming due to an increase
in the
number of children whose parents work overseas. Some children
tend to
have extravagant lifestyles paid for with the money their
parents send back to them.
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Translated from Korean by Bonhee Chung
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