Thread: Inside the Immigration Debate: A Korean Perspective

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Inside the Immigration Debate: A Korean Perspective

An L.A. attorney describes the immigration debate as she sees it

Audrey Magazine, Commentary, Joann H. Lee, Aug 19, 2006

Although the debate surrounding comprehensive immigration reform has focused greatly on Latino communities throughout the United States, many Asian and Pacific Islanders, though smaller in number, have had a lot to say. In Los Angeles, many Korean Americans in particular have been mobilizing around these issues. I’ve become involved in these efforts as a board member of the Korean Resource Center, an affiliate of the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC). In doing so, I’ve learned that the Korean community comes from a deep and rich history of organizing in the U.S. and in Korea. We’ve been able to draw from these experiences in organizing and mobilizing communities around the country.

Other NAKASEC affiliates in Chicago and New York, as well as a new coalition that formed recently in Philadelphia, have been playing key roles in the immigration reform movement. It’s been a truly inspirational and exciting experience, participating in the efforts for immigration reform in Los Angeles, seeing Koreans and other Asian and Pacific Islanders, young and old, playing traditional Korean drums, holding banners and signs, chanting in English, Korean and Spanish, for real change.

On the morning of May 1, 2006, the downtown and mid-Wilshire sections of Los Angeles, normally bustling with people and businesses, were eerily quiet. It seemed like a holiday; there was very little traffic and most of the businesses had closed in support of the boycott. There were streams of people in white T-shirts walking, making their way to the two marches that were scheduled for the day. I made my way to the corner of Wilshire and Western in Koreatown where various Korean American organizations were mobilizing to rally people together and join the march down Wilshire Boulevard. As I looked around at the marchers ahead of me and behind me, I could see no end or beginning to the sea of people in white T-shirts. I felt as though we were sending a strong message to the country and to Congress that our concerns would not be ignored.

My experiences growing up in a Korean immigrant family led me to pursue a career as a public interest attorney helping monolingual immigrants access the legal system. In the course of my work, I have seen the profound impact our current broken immigration policies have had on Koreans in the U.S. I have seen many families filled with fear that they might be separated from their mothers, fathers, spouses and children.

I once had a client who became undocumented because her abusive husband destroyed her passport and plane ticket back to Korea and then refused to file the proper paperwork for her to obtain status. After years of suffering in isolation, she finally took her young son and fled from her abusive husband. They boarded a bus and decided to come to Los Angeles because of its large Korean population. On the way, the bus was stopped by immigration authorities, and they instituted deportation proceedings against her. Until she contacted our office, she had no idea whether she had any remedies and lived in fear of being separated from her son. In fact, she had a path to legalization, and after numerous court filings and hearings, she obtained lawful permanent resident status and is now living happily with her son.

Relative newcomers to the U.S., most Korean Americans — about 78 percent of 1.2 million — are immigrants, of which 71 percent came after 1980. In 2004, 56 percent of immigrations from Korea came through family immigration. This system, which has quotas for certain family members, causes spouses and children to wait years before joining family members in the U.S. Without highly specialized skills or significant amounts of money to invest, it is difficult to otherwise immigrate to the U.S.

Due to the lack of legal channels to immigrate, many immigrants decide to risk undocumented status in order to reunite with their families, as well as for economic reasons. It’s estimated that about one in five Koreans in the U.S. do not have legal immigration status. Most undocumented immigrants work hard — often in exploitative conditions. And employers here take full advantage of this. They hire immigrants, especially the undocumented, for jobs no one else will do for very little pay. A study by the Urban Institute found that immigrants make up a disproportional percentage of the low-wage, low-benefits labor force.

Current anti-immigrant advocates paint a distorted picture of undocumented immigrants as criminals, terrorists and welfare-hungry. Studies show, however, that as a whole, immigrants contribute significantly to the U.S. economy in the form of income and Social Security taxes, and unemployment insurance. Undocumented immigrants are not even eligible for welfare programs. And those low-income legal immigrants who are eligible use welfare and Medicaid at a lower rate than low-income citizen families.

Current proposals for immigration “reform,” specifically H.R. 4437, do nothing to address our broken immigration policies; rather they criminalize and punish millions of hardworking immigrants. Certain provisions of H.R. 4437 make it a crime for any person to assist an undocumented individual. Many of my clients are victims of domestic violence and human trafficking — individuals who are the most marginalized, isolated and unaware of their legal rights. Most of these victims don’t have legal status because it’s a tool that their abusers and traffickers use against them to keep them under their control. These proposals for reform would drive my clients into further isolation and oppression and limit advocates’ ability to assist them.

Not only that, this bill would have a tremendous chilling effect on all immigrants, both documented and undocumented, as many families have individuals of mixed statuses. Eighty-five percent of immigrant families are comprised of members of mixed immigration status. H.R. 4437 will cause these families and communities to be torn apart. We often get inquiries from members of these immigrant families — whether U.S. citizens, legal immigrants or undocumented — who ask if they are allowed to utilize various government and social services, such as the police, hospitals, schools and courts. Even though they are clearly eligible to access many of these services, they fear that doing so will result in the deportation of family members. This creates an underground and further marginalized society where basic benefits and protections are denied.

True proposals for reform must do more to reduce the tremendous backlogs in the family immigration system and facilitate reunification of families. These reforms must also provide legal status and a path to permanent residence for undocumented immigrants who work hard and pay taxes. Finally, new laws must create legal ways for people who want to contribute to our economy to come work in the U.S., coupled with innovative wage and labor condition protections for U.S. and immigrant workers. We cannot deny the fact that this country was built on the backs of immigrants, in the name of freedom and opportunity, and we will only continue to prosper by welcoming the diversity and hard work immigrant communities bring. I hope that more people recognize this and continue to stand up and speak out against injustice and the inhumane treatment of individuals — regardless of what their immigration status happens to be.

Joann H. Lee is a directing attorney at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and is a board member of the Korean Resource Center. This article appeared in the June/July issue of Audrey

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A Korean Perspective

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These proposals for reform would drive my clients into further isolation and oppression and limit advocates’ ability to assist them.

Translation: "I'm going to LOSE money!!

I could give a "flying fracas" about a "Korean perspective!"