The use of the words ‘mobility trap’ to describe Chinatown was interesting. From that perspective, I agree with Peter Kwong. How many immigrants have actually succeeded in getting to the top, from being a garment worker? The ones who are actually moving forward economically would be the factory owners, or anyone of that sort. I agree with Victor Nee and Jimy Sanders that it is the entrepreneurs that are moving up on the social ladder, not the workers. The garment workers probably didn’t view themselves as being trapped because it was comfortable where they were – that is, before September 11. Before September 11th, they could come into work whenever they wanted. There weren’t set schedules and they got paid piece by piece. This was probably the only work they’ve known and wouldn’t think of anything else. If they had been shown what it would be like to work at a job with the knowledge of English, their views on being “trapped” might have been different. This is probably an exaggeration, but it reminded me of the George Orwell’s book, 1984.

I found it interesting how there was a clear impact of the garment workers losing their jobs on the businesses of Chinatown. It shows that everything really is connected; because income wasn’t being made, money wasn’t being spent. There is no more flow of money, and as a result, the businesses of Chinatown would have to eventually shut down because they weren’t getting any revenue from their customers.

There is a huge emphasis on women in the context of the family. Although this is about garment workers, who are usually women, what about the men? Where do they work while the women at in the garment factories? Were they affected the same way, if they worked in Chinatown?