Chinese stowaways： smuggling into the United States and never seeing their hometown again

Beijing, March 15 (Xinhua) According to the US "World News" report, how high is the price of the "American Dream"? Is it the equivalent of four full years’ salary, the fear of drifting at sea for a year and a half, or the loneliness of never seeing my hometown again? For many Chinese stowaways, the answer is probably "all of the above".

Dr. Wei-chun Vivi Hua, a Chinese psychologist in the United States who studies Chinese illegal immigrants, has interviewed many Chinese illegal immigrants who suffered psychological damage during the process of illegal immigration, and learned many secrets about illegal immigration from many interviewees.

Many Chinese smuggled into the United States not to get a fake passport and get on a plane and go directly to the United States, but to go through several countries to escape tracing and finally to the United States.

On the way to smuggling, every time the snakehead goes to a country, he will change a passport and identity for each stowaway, and destroy the passport used in the last trip. It takes time to prepare fake passports, and illegal immigrants usually have to stay for three to four months in the countries they pass through. The average duration of the whole smuggling is one to two years. The last stop before entering the United States is often Mexico.

Paul Beeson, captain of the border patrol of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in San Diego, pointed out that illegal immigrants brought into the United States by Mexican snakeheads are found in all countries. They may cross the border on foot or sneak ashore from the high seas by boat.

Hua Weichun recounted an interviewee’s self-report, who was led by a Mexican snakehead during the smuggling and scurried in the border desert. At that time, it was winter. In order to reduce luggage, snakeheads were not allowed to bring warm clothes, and they had to wade barefoot when encountering streams, and they were so cold that they quickly went into shock. Halfway through, I met the border patrol search, and the group hurried back to Mexico. After walking around the clock for almost a week, someone sprained his foot and was thrown into the desert by the snakehead. "I don’t think I can live."

The risk of being caught smuggling by sea is less, but the life risk is just as great. Hua Weichun quoted the interviewee as saying that there were more than 20 people in the boat, carrying more than a dozen barrels of gasoline, and the sanitation was poor. The smugglers also restricted the illegal immigrants from drinking water, and many people fell ill.

Jerome Conlin, spokesman of the San Diego Border Patrol, pointed out that Mexican snakeheads charge foreign customers, that is, non-Mexican illegal immigrants. At present, the market is: 20,000 US dollars for land smuggling and 50,000 US dollars for land smuggling, and the highest charge may reach 90,000 US dollars.

Smuggling is expensive. After arriving in the United States, every penny earned by illegal immigrants in at least the first four years has to be used to pay off debts, and it may be unclear for more than ten years. Among the interviewees of Hua Weichun, there were people who hanged themselves because of the pressure of debt. Hua Weichun pointed out that Chinese, who sneaked into the United States, was mostly around the age of 20, and often carried the expectations of the whole family.

One of Hua Weichun’s interviewees sneaked into the United States 17 years ago. Because she has been unable to return to China since she went to the United States, she has always been alone, and I am afraid she will never see her hometown again. (I have heard more)