Immigration – the First and Last issue for Nation of Immigrants

In my last blog, I mentioned the rare and endangered Taiwanese Salmon that was land-locked during the last ice age over 10,000 years ago. The melting of the ice at the end of the ice age, on the other hand, severed the “land route” between Asia and North America. As a result, indigenous peoples of the Americas have charted their own path and history until 1492 when Columbus reached the Americas (unless you subscribe to the much discredited hypothesis of Gavin Menzies' that Chinese discovered Americas in 1421). Immigration and associated issues had then begun.

U.S. is a fascinating success example of a nation of immigrants in fast motion – from a tiny population to 300 millions people in 400+ years with enviable prosperity. While the early immigration was naturally dominated with Spaniards, British, French and to a lesser extent, several other Western European countries followed quickly and colonized various parts of U.S. By 1790, before the European immigration took a pause of 30 years due to the French revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic wars, U.S. population had reached close to 4 millions with British being the majority.

While we are on the history of immigration, one must not forget the near-genocide of Native Americans. One must not forget either the forced immigration of Africans over 200 years ago. Before Sir William Wilberforce finally succeeded in pushing through the abolition of 250 year old slave trades in British Parliament in 1807 (a dramatized presentation of the story can be seen at the 2006 movie Amazing Grace), it was estimated that more than half a million of African slaves were forced to US, not including many who died on the gruesome journeys. This is in dark contrast with other groups of so-called “Old Immigrants” primarily WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) most of them migrated to U.S. in seeking economic opportunities and religious freedom. Of course while US congress did abolish the slave trade at the same year as the British, it left its domestic practice of slavery continue until the end of the civil war 60 years later.

It does not take a genius to figure out the primarily motive of immigration has always been an economic one; it simply takes a lot of courage and determination to leave family and friends for unknowns. As such, one finds recurring stories of waves after waves of immigrants who traveled afar with a small bag of strong belief and hope, worked hard and settled in this vast land to build their new homes and better future. It is this very spirit and shared value that makes Americans and the country vibrant and what is.

Yet generations after generations, one continues to find from time to time mass hysteria with varying degrees of hostility towards new immigrants. For example, the wave of Irish Catholic immigration in 1840s, triggered by the famine, was opposed fiercely (but unsuccessfully) by many based on arguments including one for their different religion. The discrimination and prejudice (by the “Old Immigrants”) was also visible in late 19^th to early 20^th century against the “new immigrants” from Southern (e.g. Italy) and Eastern Europe (e.g. Poland) and Asia (e.g. Japan) under many covers and arguments, although there was never any data supporting the claims and accusations. The most astonishing example can be found in 1882, when congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act (which was repealed in 1943), the first and only Federal immigration law that explicitly discriminated against a particular ethnic group including those who were already legally residing in U.S.

According to the latest published government statistics, there was never a time that the population of foreign-born (i.e. first generation) immigrants exceeds 10-15% of the total population. Current estimate of the U.S. population is about 300 millions out of which 35 millions are foreign-born legal residents. It is also estimated by CBO (Congressional Budget Office) that there are currently 4% or 12 millions of unauthorized immigrants in U.S. Numerous research and analyses from government and private institutions be they liberal, conservative or independent, have shown however that if any, there are only positive gains albeit relatively in % on various macro-economic indicators. There is also no secret that by taking in skilled workers, the country has reaped tremendous economic benefits, many beyond easy quantification, without paying for the cost of developing such talents which is born by their homelands. Further, as the demography shifts towards to one with increasingly number of older population, immigration is recognized as an effective tool to help maintain a healthy worker-retiree ratio, thus sustain critical social services and commitments. Indeed seeking special skills and filling the gap of labor shortage has long been a central part of the stated U.S. immigration policy.

Some might say the problem is with “illegal aliens” and want us to believe that these people are dragging us down by utilizing public services from education to health care. This is simply not the case as affirmed by the recent CBO study, published on Dec 2007. The study disputed the claim with real data that there is no significant cost and financial impact of unauthorized immigration on the budget and expenses of States and Local governments. Some might say the problem is the depressing of wages and loss of jobs brought by those. Sounds familiar? Similar blames have been made every time in the last 4 centuries against new immigrants, authorized or not, based on selected anecdotal but true stories. While major entry points for immigrants tend to be lower-wage lower-skill markets and particular sectors (like agriculture in recent decades) where there is a labor shortage; the growth of economy and fundamental law of demand and supply drive it, not the “aliens’.

The truth is we just can’t escape completely from our basic human nature of fear and greed. We do react consciously or unconsciously to concerns for real or perceived threats and for contention of resources or intrusion of “our space”. Immigration is simply another example of such familiar but unfortunate behavior and psychology. It is sad however that one finds in these situations over-zealous self-appointed crusaders like Lou Dobbs and Tom Tancredo who prey on the human weakness, exaggerate the issues and trivialize the solutions.

Clearly there is a right way and wrong way to approach the issues; reporting your neighbors and rounding up people is wrong no matter what excuses one uses, be it national security or fear for repeat of 9/11. Building a modern day “Great Wall” physical and virtual that costs billions after billions of tax payers money is wrong and close to being silly, especially when considering the law of economics and the fact that a significant portion (estimated at 1/3 to 40%) of unauthorized immigrants are ones overstayed their visas, not just the ones running across the Rio Grande. It would be far more productive to incent and help the Mexicans build better and more equitable economy than to punish those employers and clients who did not exploit the immigrants. It would be far more productive to help educate the children of unauthorized immigrants to realize their parents’ dreams than to segregate them into ghettos and undergrounds. It would be far more productive to help and motivate unemployed workers seek training and move up in their economic ladder than to engage them in bigotry and leave them on social welfare.

There is no question the problem is hard but an important one given that it cuts across the very fabric of the American society. One must begin to develop now on a new long term vision and framework that addresses, among many, the balances of roles and responsibilities of Federal vs. State/Local governments including education, health care, and law enforcement. The founding fathers, despite their infinite wisdom, could not have foreseen the challenges of immigration as this Nation of Immigrations matured and reached its peak in a global economy.

Talk to you soon!

Memory deeper than Ocean

I took last two weeks off to spend the Chinese New Year in Taiwan with my brother. Political calendar wise, it was after the Jan 12^th Taiwan legislature election (see my Jan 17th blog for a brief discussion) and before its crucial presidential election on March 22. Luckily because of the Chinese New Year celebrations, I was spared from much of the ocal media bombardments and nonsense. On the other hand, I missed out the Super Bowl and the Super Tuesday primaries in US and their fascinating outcomes.

As I walked down the unusually quiet Taipei streets on Chinese New Year’s eve to have the most important family dinner of the year with my brother and sister-in-law at a crowded restaurant, I realized that I missed so much this old Chinese New Year tradition when the whole family got together to prepare and eat the big meal – an unfortunate collateral damage from the progress of successful industrializations.

I re-visited the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall near my brother’s apartment that was recently renamed to National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall by the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) government. Carefully placed carnival-like decorations filled in the otherwise serene memorial hall made every attempt to obstruct the views of Chiang’s statue and writings around. I suppose it made some Taiwan Independence extremists feel better as they can finally declare a moral victory? Would Chiang look down from his giant marble seat with pity to these fly-like decorations around him? What was odd is the music played in the hall was none other than the Yellow River Concerto, arguably the most popular and patriotic Chinese music from the Communist China, originally written in 1939 during Japanese invasion. The music used to be banned during Chiang’s reign as it can be construed as a call for patriotism and unification of Chinese people (under the Communist party) – something that the extremists loathe.

While rooted in Chinese culture and immigrants, Taiwan’s history is short and convoluted. When Columbus accidentally reached Americas in 1492, Taiwan was occupied mostly by Austronesian people who have been living on the island for several thousand years or more, similar to the American Indians in Americas. It received no or little attention by the outside world until 1544, few decades before French and British began to colonize North America, when some Portuguese sailors passed by in 1544 while looking for a colonial base in Eastern Asia. The Portuguese called the island Formosa (from Latin formosus, meaning “beautiful”) and became the first colonizer. Competition for the island intensified over the subsequent decades but appeared to be ignored by Chinese Ming emperors as the Dutch pushed out Portuguese, fought off Spanish and dominated the island for almost 40 years since 1624. Many settlers from Southeastern China crossed the Taiwan strait for one reasons or others made it their homes. In 1662, 42 years after Mayflower reached Cape Cod and almost 100 years before the founding of United States, a Chinese governing system was established when the Ming loyalist general Zheng Cheng-Gong drove out the Dutch and used Taiwan as a base for his failed attempt to restore the Ming dynasty. Qing dynasty then ruled the island for the next 200 years as the number of immigrants from the mainland reached several millions. Taiwan’s fortune changed however as Qing dynasty went under siege by the imperial forces and eventually was ceded to Japan in 1895 when Qing dynasty lost the Sino-Japan war. Since then, it has received more than its share of attention since for its size. To this date, Taiwan continues to struggle with its political and international identity and direction.

I visited the wonderful National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium at the southern end of Taiwan to escape from the raining, damp and cold winter of Taipei. Like all aquariums, it features, among others, some fishes swimming gracefully, quietly, and endlessly in few cylindrical tanks. Do they know they are being tricked by men with the artificial current? Or do they use it just like a treadmill to keep themselves fit and stay alive?

In the Taiwan Waters exhibit hall, I saw several beautiful but endangered and protected Taiwanese Salmon (Oncorhynchus masou formosanus), the only salmon specie in the world found in a subtropical area. It is one of the rarest fish in the world; a unique specie became land-locked and survived when it was cut off its migration path (to ocean) during the last ice age over 10,000 years ago. At the exit of the exhibit hall, famous poet Yu Guang-Chung 余光中 wrote two poems when he visited the museum. He praised: Ah, Ocean; you are deeper than memory and more magical than dream! Did the Taiwanese Salmon loose its memory? Will it ever be able to explore the vast ocean again like its ancestors? Doesn’t the thought of being land-locked scare you?

In another exhibit hall, white Beluga Whales do their tricks playfully to entertain the crowd standing beneath in the glass tunnel. Or do they think we are entertaining them instead? Could they tell me why they choose to answer the call and returned to the ocean after living on land for so many years?

Every time when I had a chance to visit Taiwan, I strolled down the memory lanes and liked to brows through aisles of bookstores and music shops. I felt like a plant hungrily soaking up the sunlight to photosynthesize and store the free energy. I wonder: are we like salmon and whales that deep in our hearts, we wanted to go back to where we came from?

I can imagine how Chinag Kai-Shek or Zheng Cheng-Gong and their soldiers felt when they moved to Taiwan and believed they would return home triumphantly some day. I can imagine how the Pilgrims felt when they escaped England, sailed through grueling sea and finally reached the New England. I can imagine how Latino-Americans felt when they crossed the border and worked hard to feed their family and build their future. But I can’t imagine how the indigenous people in Taiwan felt when they retreated into the high mountains as waves of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and for the matter, Hans from Mainland China (who are also ancestors of the Taiwan Independence extremists) invaded. I can’t imagine how American Indians felt when they were settled to the Reservations after being overwhelmed by the whites. Nor can’t I imagine how African slaves felt when they were forced and shipped like animals to the New World to labor the land.

We are all immigrants in one sense or the other - it is the hope and that invisible memory connecting to our roots keep us going. How deep does the memory go? Can we ever be free from our infinite past? Would we reach the deepest of our memory with steady streams of thoughts that cut through the layers of memory like the Colorado River tirelessly carving through Grand Canyon?

Above are fragments of my most recent memory. Talk to you soon!