Review of The Golden Venture

This documentary tells the story of 286 Chinese immigrants that boarded a freight ship from China, called the Golden Venture, in 1993, hoping to be smuggled into the United States. It deals with not only the hardship and struggles of these immigrants, but also with the issue of how to respond to illegal immigration and the faults of United States legislation.

The documentary shows the atrocious conditions that the immigrants faced on the ship: the smallest personal space imaginable and very little food and clothing. From this point on, the documentary is biased towards the passengers of the Golden Venture, even though they are illegal immigrants. However, it is not hard to see why anyone watching this documentary (and seeing what they faced) would feel the same way.

It is clear that the producers of the film tried to tell the story as completely as possible, as it includes footage of passengers jumping off the ship into icy cold water after the Golden Venture crashed into New York’s coast and the medical teams rushing to save them. Though ten of the immigrants drowned and some died even with medical help, INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) officials were quick to take the survivors to INS-contracted county jails.

After the passengers are imprisoned, the illegal immigration issues begin. Half of them are unable to escape deportation, while others were transferred from one jail to another for four years. The ones who were deported back to China faced harsher jail time there. It is stunning that 220 of the 286 Golden Venture passengers live in the United States (mainly illegally or undocumented).

In all, the documentary accurately depicts the struggles of the Golden Venture passengers and the legislative issues of illegal immigration at a time of xenophobia in the United States.

Review of Sentenced Home

Sentenced Home is a documentary that follows three Cambodian Americans and their struggle with deportation from the United States. Their families came to the U.S. as part of a larger group of Cambodian refugees in the early 1980s. These refugees were given permanent resident status, which means they were not protected under the same laws as citizens of the United States.

The main issue focused on is a law enacted in 1996 which meant deportation for non-citizen immigrants that have been convicted and served over a year of jail time. The law did not take into account individual convictions or circumstances. The film shows viewers the circumstances of Loeun Lun, Kim Ho Ma, and Many Uch in order for the viewers to decide if the law is justified as it stands or not.

In the case of Loeun Lun, he was incarcerated for firing a gun in the air as a teenager, even though he was protecting himself from being attacked by gang members. He was deported even after he served his time in prison and made a family. He was separated from his wife and children to be sent to live in the Cambodian countryside with no opportunities. In the case of Kim Ho Ma, he was sent to a country which was as good as foreign to him, whose culture and language he did not identify with. Many Uch had not been deported yet, but his deportation notice could come any day, so he makes the best of the time he has.

Though the documentary shows the other (legislative) side as well, it is difficult to advocate for a law that separates people from their homes and families for something that was taken care of many years ago. It seems like they are being tried for the same charges, which is illegal by the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

During the years between 2006 and 2010, certain neighborhoods in Queens have seen a significant increase in the Hispanic population. These neighborhoods include Glendale , Ridgewood, Middle Village, and Maspeth (PUMA# 04110) as well as in Woodhaven and Kew Gardens (PUMA 04111). These towns have shown a fifteen to twenty-five percent increase in the Hispanic population. The American Community Survey (ACS) has specific data on those of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban descent, but aggregates the rest of the population into a group “Other Hispanic or Latino.” By looking at annual census reports on income levels and educational attainment in these regions and the trend between years, we can get a clearer idea of why there was an increase the Hispanic population and their socio-economic impact on these communities.

Using Social Explorer (2010 Census Tract PL94), we mapped the population change of the ethnicity we chose (Hispanic) in each tract of New York City. From this map, we were able to choose two zones with the most significant increase to compare using social and economic data from the census website. It’s important to note that Social Explorer’s census tract data spans from 2000 to 2010, however, ACS data is only available as early as 2006.

2006 Data

In PUMA 04110, census data shows that 79.4% of the 25 or older population had a high school degree or higher, while 19.9% of this population had a bachelor’s degree or higher. The mean household income was $61,613 and the median was $50,477.

In PUMA 04111, census data shows that 78.6% of the 25 or older population had a high school degree or higher, while 23.6% of the population had a bachelor’s degree or higher. The mean household income was $62,045 and the median was $52,722.

In terms of educational attainment and average household income, the two regions are strikingly similar, the high school attainment difference being only ~1% and the mean and median income difference being only ~$2,000.

2010 Data

In PUMA 04110, census data shows that 78.6% of the population (25 or older) had a high school degree or higher. 20.5% of the population had a bachelor’s degree or higher. The mean household income was $65,710 and the median was $53,913.

In PUMA 04111, census data shows that 77.5% of the population (25 or older) had a high school degree or higher. 25.5% of the population had a bachelor’s degree or higher. The mean household income was $66,577 and the median was $54,522.

The similarity between the two regions remains the same, with a slight decrease in mean and median income difference (~$1,000, down from ~$2,000).

From 2006 to 2010, PUMA 04110 displayed a 0.6% increase of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, while PUMA 04111 displayed a 1.9% increase. As the percentage of population with college degrees increases, we would expect the mean and median income to increase as well. This is in accordance with the above data. PUMA 04110’s mean and median incomes increased by $4097 and $3436, respectively, while PUMA 04111’s increased by $4532 and $1800, respectively. The increase in median income in both of these PUMA regions provides an immigration incentive for low and medium-income families seeking better income opportunities. An influx of low and medium-income families, however, can also correspond to an influx of non-high school-graduates, which has a negative impact on the percentage of high school (or higher) educational attainment, as we will see.

Despite the increase in bachelor’s degrees, over the four years, there was a decrease in the number those that attained a high school degree or higher. This is a very strange phenomenon because one would expect that with an increase of those completing a college degree, there likely would not be any or negative change in the the number of those who had attained a high school diploma. A possible explanation for this strange occurrence could be that there was an influx of people who did not attain a high school degree or higher. A non-constant population would allow for this to happen, under the fact that if one attains a college degree, they must also have a high school degree.

Given this census data and the fact that the mean and median incomes continue to increase in these two PUMAs, we expect that the the trend of hispanic immigration (and increase in percentage of total population) will continue to increase into the future.

Stepping into the first floor hallway of 97 Orchard Street, we immediately noticed the kind of living conditions that those who lived in the building went through. The hallways were tight and dilapidated. The walls had floral patterns carved in and small hanging paintings, the flooring was honeycomb tiled, and the design of the ceiling gave a false sense of home and security. The stairs were composed of shaky, creaking wooden planks that were deemed a fire hazard.

The first thing to stand out in the family’s apartment was the coal-powered stove. Imagining it being used, a thick cloud of smog would fill the air, along with an unimaginable amount of soot that would be inhaled by everyone inside. In front of the stove was an ironing board where someone worked while the mother would be cooking. The ironing tool was heavy and seemed awkward to use in such a cramped space. Next to the stove and ironing board was a baby crib, which, although unsafe, was the easiest way for the mother to keep an eye on the baby while continuing her housework duties. The apartment, doubling as a dress factory, was inhabited at least by eight people: the parents, several children, and two hired young women who assisted in the dress making. It was astonishing to learn that many of these hired women might be  abused by their employers and had no choice but to stay due to the scarcity of work available in contrast to the plethora of job-seekers.

Utilities were non-existent in the apartment. Oil lamps were used for light during evenings. Water was supplied via a central location on the ground floor for the entire building. The limited supply of even the most basic necessities made life in the tenement buildings extremely dejected and melancholic. Only during the Saturday Sabbath was life more enjoyable; the mother would clean the house and the family would be able to enjoy a good meal together and pray for the future. During these years, Jewish immigrants generally remained in their enclave in the Lower East Side and strongly held onto their cultural customs and identity.

The second family apartment we visited provided a view thirteen years into the future. Although the space was a few square feet smaller than the first, it actually felt more spacious. The home did not serve as a factory, so there was more space for more leisure items such as a large couch, dumbbells for exercise, and souvenirs from fun places like Coney Island. In comparison to the first apartment, more natural light entered the rooms, allowing for a livelier atmosphere. By the time this family was living here, there was electric lighting in the building. Despite having available electricity, however, they themselves would not touch the light switches due to Jewish observances. Instead, they asked other tenants to do it for them. By this time, many of the Jewish immigrants were beginning to assimilate into American culture while keeping many of their traditions.

Filipinos comprise the second largest group of Asia-born immigrants in the United States, yet looking at available census data it’s difficult to understand how this came to be. The U.S. Census Bureau’s data provides only a very limited amount of information about Filipino immigration post-1980. Because of the limited data pre-1980, we can’t properly gauge how the rate and distribution have changed.

Looking at the historical background, in late 1906, five years after the Philippine-American war officially ended, Filipinos began to migrate to the U.S. in search of work via Hawaii. Over the next three decades, a significant number of Filipinos followed their example. Migration Information Source estimated that around 150,000 Filipinos arrived in the U.S. between 1907 and 1930, most of whom stayed in Hawaii to work on the plantations. The ones that chose not to stay looked for agricultural work in states like California, Oregon, and Washington. A major change occurred, however, when the Philippines Independence Act of 1934 was passed in the United States, as it would grant the Philippines independence ten years later. In order to prevent a flood of Filipino migrants to the U.S. resulting from the act, it also it restricted the number of allowed visas from the Philippines to fifty per year, in turn greatly reducing the number of migrants.

In 1965, the Immigration and Nationality Act did away with nationality-based restrictions, which allowed migration from the Philippines to once again greatly increase. The incentive to migrate came from an increase in job demand in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s, especially in medical professions. The U.S. General Accounting Office via HealthAffairs reports that in 1980, 75% of foreign nationals taking the nursing licensure exam were Filipinos. In 2000, this ratio was 43%, still far greater than that of any other nation.

Now that we have some background on pre-1980 migration from the Philippines, we can study New York Times’ immigration explorer map. From the map, the pockets of migration that originated as early as 1906 in Hawaii, California, and Washington still exist today. Back then, the majority of Filipino migrants resided in Hawaii, as it was the nearest U.S. territory and had work available. From the 1980 map, we can see that the majority shifted to California, with smaller populations in Washington, the Great Lakes area, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, and Texas. Between 1980 and 1990, the Philippine-born population nearly doubled (or more) in all of these regions. From 1990 to 2000, this population increased by roughly a quarter. In Los Angeles, California alone, the population grew from 73,000 in 1980, to 161,000 in 1990, to 203,000 in 2000. In New York, the Philippine-born population increased from roughly 21,000 to 55,000. If 2010 data was also included on the map, we would expect to see continued foreign-born population growth, especially in New York, where the population continues to diversify.