Thread: Chinese Immigrants Often Send Babies Back to China

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/world/artic ... 38,00.html

Chinese immigrants often send babies back to China
By MARINA JIMENEZ
January 1, 2007

Sunny Wu had just immigrated to Canada from China when she discovered she was pregnant. Overjoyed, Ms. Wu prepared for her baby's arrival, never imagining that within a year, she would have to endure the agony and loneliness of being separated from her daughter.

Wu, a Chinese teacher, and her husband, a computer programmer, were squeaking by on minimum-wage jobs and could not afford to pay $1,200 a month for daycare. Wu, 34, also knew she would have to return to university if she didn't want to spend the rest of her life as an overeducated, embittered immigrant, packaging groceries for $7 an hour.

Though the separation was devastating, the couple could see no other way out. They sent their baby daughter to China to be raised by her grandmother, who was already caring for the toddler they had left behind.

"I felt so guilty. This wasn't how my new life was meant to be. I came to Canada to have a better quality of life, not a worse one."

According to social workers in Toronto's Chinese community, dozens, even hundreds, of recent Chinese immigrants have sent their infants back to China to spend their early years with relatives. They are separated from their own children due to financial constraints and unaffordable daycare in a country they came to, ironically, because they thought it would be a great place to raise children.

The phenomenon of Chinese professionals immigrating here, and then sending their children back to China, is a new trend in what global experts call "transnational parenting."

It raises troubling questions about how well Canada's immigration selection model is working and may help explain the recent decrease in immigration applications from China.

"We discovered dozens of professional immigrants from mainland China were doing this because they all asked us how to get passports for their babies," said Florence Wong, a social worker with St. Stephen's Community House in Toronto.

In 2002, Wong conducted a study of Chinese immigrants in five prenatal programs. Seventy percent of the women said they were planning to send their children back to China to be raised by relatives. Social workers dealing with the community in Scarborough, Ontario confirmed the trend as well.

Wong decided the problem was severe enough that she produced a documentary profiling several Chinese newcomers who sent their children back home; she now screens the film for newcomers in an attempt to persuade them to keep their families together.

The Chinese women and their husbands interviewed by The Globe and Mail are all professionals in their 30s who came to Canada believing they would find jobs in their fields that pay well. However, instead of finding employment as civil engineers or meteorologists, they were forced to accept minimum-wage jobs. With family incomes of $1,000 a month, daycare often wasn't affordable; yet they also did not qualify for subsidies.

"I have met so many immigrant women who want to send their babies back to China as soon as they are three months. I tell them not to do it. It is so hard emotionally," said Faith Wu, an engineer who immigrated from Guangdong province in 2000. "I blame Immigration Canada. Chinese people are losing interest in coming to Canada because of this."

As China's economy has surged ahead in recent years, the number of immigration applications to Canada has dropped off dramatically. The number of Chinese applicants decreased to 19,000 in 2006 from a high of 40,000 in 2004, compared with 132,000 applicants last year from India.

Word has traveled back to China - the Canadian dream isn't all it's cracked up to be, said Sunny Wu. She would do anything to recapture those early years with her children.

Judith Bernhard, director of the Early Childhood Education master's program at Ryerson University, says the psychological damage of separated children who reunite with their families can be severe.

"The most common issue is that the parent loses his or her status as an authority figure," says Bernhard, who has conducted research into transnational mothers from Latin America.

The children often feel resentful and may rebel by refusing to listen or accept their parent as a decision-maker. For mothers, the most common emotion is guilt, and they sometimes compensate by spoiling the child, which can lead to more disciplinary problems.

Marina Wilson, a spokeswoman with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, says the department is acutely aware of the difficulties foreign professionals face getting their credentials recognized and is working closely with the provinces and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada to address the issue. "We are also putting up a portal on the CIC Web site so prospective newcomers can assess themselves before deciding to immigrate. We don't want to mislead them," Wilson said.

Very Interesting.

Wu, 34, also knew she would have to return to university if she didn't want to spend the rest of her life as an overeducated, embittered immigrant, packaging groceries for $7 an hour.

Why not? everyone else who is trapped in the NAU with the same credentials are already doing this.

Having gotten my sarcasim out of the way... the fact they send their children back to China speaks volumes of the conditions that will become a way of life for all Canadians and Americans alike. Unfortunately we do not have a native country that is not controlled by Globalists to send our children to. In fact we no longer have a country! We have a traffic hub designed to benefit the rest of the world with the transport of their slave labor produced goods. So who is going to buy these goods anyway when the U.S.A. and Canadian economies are collapsed? $.20 per hour pay doesn't purchase anything including items produced by Chinese gulongs.

Sorry guess sarcasim is the mode of the day.

after thought... 12 years ago the parents of a friend of my son immigrated to China upon the graduation of their youngest. AT the time the thoughts I had about their motivation were rather negative to say the least. As the light shines on the facts it would not appear they were very informed individuals.

God Bless this country and its People and those in Canada. We and the Canadians as well as some Europeans are going to need it when a communist society with draconian laws has become a more desirable location to insure the safety and well being of your children.

Excellent post and Excellent response ....Thank you

We have a traffic hub designed to benefit the rest of the world with the transport of their slave labor produced goods.

Americans... WAKE UP...the hour is late

Are we really sure this is a fact about sending their children back to China? I have heard China do not take back any immigrants esp. illegal ones to America anyway!

Too bad they weren't in the U.S. They would have been able to con the govt. for the childcare plus enough money for food, clothing, housing, and a new SUV!

Good point Nitty...

These children would not be citizens of China. Very interesting point. Thanks - GOOD critical thinking

Originally Posted by nittygritty

Are we really sure this is a fact about sending their children back to China? I have heard China do not take back any immigrants esp. illegal ones to America anyway!

That's what I heard as well. Lou Dobbs reported a few months ago that we had 60 thousand illegals here from China that they refuse to take back.

On the other hand if I was a communist country...I would allow the children back...makes for good leverage power with the parents and good time to teach your agenda...when they are young...and as for the undesirables...you would not let them return