Beginning in the 1990s, there was a popular trend where Chinese immigrants

Beginning in the 1990s, there was a popular trend where Chinese immigrants were smuggled across the ocean to come to the United States. However, most of the those smuggled were adults. Since the emergence of the global crisis and societal changes in China, an increasing number of teenagers are starting to illegally migrate here. However, due to a lack of life experience, their ability to cope with stress is limited, and with scant venues to obtain legal immigration status, these teenagers are struggling and facing problems in the United States.

On August 22, employment agencies indicated that the number of teenagers seeking work has increased in the past couple of years. They indicate these teenagers often are repeat job seekers, meaning they often work for a short period of time and then seek employment again elsewhere. There are two factors responsible for this: First, some employers believe that teenagers are unable to perform well in their jobs and retained them for short-term work only; second, some teenagers have too much pride and are not able to endure the hard work.

According to community members, smuggled teenagers range in age from 14 to 17. Eighteen- year-olds are considered adults. Most of them come from villages near Fuzhou City. Unlike adults, many of the teenagers are smuggled into the country by plane since many parents worry about the safety of the children and are willing to pay smugglers a higher price for the journey over.

Because of circumstances beyond the smugglers’, or snakeheads’, control, it is not uncommon for many teenagers to have to stay from a few months to a year in Europe or Latin America before they have an opportunity to enter into the United States. Since they are underage, they are unable to seek political asylum the way an adult émigré could by claiming protection from the One Child Policy. In fact, they won’t be able to obtain legal status for a long time.

Under the pressure of paying their debt, many of the smuggled teenagers do not attend school. Instead, like their adult counterparts, the teenagers try to find work in Chinese restaurants in New York or other states. They periodically send money back home to China to pay their debts and to support their family at home; however, given that their physical stamina and ability to adapt are relatively low, their salaries are often lower than those of adults.

Those aware of the situation comment that back in China smuggling people to the United States is a glorified achievement. Such is the culture in which these kids are brought up in, they all “dream” of being smuggled into the United States; however, due to concern on the part of the parents, they won’t send their children away when they are too young.

Recently, changes in China have widened the gap between the rich and poor, and farmers do not have good prospects in the current economy. Therefore, some parents do not stop their children from coming to the United States. They even start saving money for their kids to be smuggled and search for “reliable” snakeheads.

After coming to the United States, some teenagers do not adjust well to the hard labor and monotonous lifestyle and sometimes become addicted to computer or video games, join a gang, or become materialistic or idle. They lack a proper value system and don’t always send money back home promptly to pay off their debt; nonetheless, the pressure to pay remains intense and the teens and their families can’t give up. This pressure has been known to cause mental illnesses for the teens.

By Qian Cao, World Journal, 23 August 2010. Translated from Chinese by Connie Yik Kong.