Pinoy nightmares in pursuing the American dream

A country’s progress can be ascertained by determining whether more people are coming into the country or departing from it.

There are, for instance, a much greater number of foreigners, immigrants and tourists going into the US than the number of American citizens leaving it.

The opposite, however, is true of the Philippines. Due to many factors, especially socio-economic ones, many Filipinos leave the country for other countries in search of greener pastures.

I think that only people with monosyllabic last names like Wong, Lim, Chu, Tan, Sy, Lu, Sia, Dy, Cha, Vez, Co, Rah, Cot are entering the Philippines – legally or illegally – and taking over the economic (and even political?) reigns of the land.

Could any social scientist or demographer explain why?

I receive calls and e-mail from many a kababayan almost daily, requesting for information about how they can land a job in America. Occasionally, the newcomer Filipino professionals (they often arrive as tourists) are willing to start in any kind of job, just to earn dollars and have a place to stay. Many immigration lawyers thrive because of the hundreds of thousands of foreigners, including Filipinos, who come to America every year. These lawyers have networks of small employers that want to save money by paying less salary. They do not mind employing, training and assisting these non-immigrant visa holders in converting their tourist visas into a working visa (the first step towards a green card through a labor certification process).

Many start their life in America this way. But through hard work, sacrifice and determination, they eventually become US citizens and progress financially. With socio-economic power, they also often metamorphose into another human being, like an arrogant fly on the back of a carabao that now thinks it is bigger than the carabao (but that is for another column).

There are many non-green-card holders residing and working in the United States. Among them are overstaying tourists or undocumented workers, especially from Mexico, other Latin America countries and Asia – including the Philippines. They fill the vacuum in the vast US labor market where many Americans do not care to work in. We find these undocumented aliens working in restaurants, grocery stores, farms, factories, health care facilities and many low-paying jobs. It is not unusual to find a foreign-educated professional, such as a lawyer or even a doctor or nurse, especially one with no green card, starting his or her life in America working in a board-and-care facility.

Many undocumented aliens contribute to making America both vibrant and progressive. They do so through heir willingness to work in menial jobs for less. These underground workers reduce costs of production for many industries.

They are often paid minimum wage, about $7 per hour. If they are paid "under the table" and/or provided with a room and board, the salary might even be lower than the minimum. Under-the-table income means no social security tax and income tax are being deducted. That is a common practice. The American government sees and accepts this phenomenon but just covers its eyes because these lowly-paid employees give more to America than what they take from it. The US Congress even has passed several "immigration amnesty" laws to help millions of undocumented aliens legalize their stay in America. Expectedly, however, many ultra conservative Americans would disagree with these pro-immigrant amnesty programs.

Due to their sheer numbers, immigrants create their own ethnic enclaves that support their own grocery stores and restaurants. Can you imagine any vibrant county like Los Angeles, Orange or San Diego that does not have Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican, Indian, Middle East or Cuban restaurants? Who wants to go to a McDonald’s, Denny’s or Sizzler every time you eat out?

I came to America legally many moons ago with a tourist visa that was later converted into a working visa. I eventually became a permanent resident. I can, therefore, fully empathize with the anguish and excitement, fear and hope, prayers and dreams of many newly arrived foreigners who are just starting out as lowly employees somewhere. Sometimes they are even exploited by others. Sometimes this exploitation is by their own kind, like I was subjected to about 27 years ago.

My advice? Keep your chin up and persevere. Maintain your self-esteem, educate yourself and believe that your low-paying position is just a stepping stone to wherever you want to be. Menial labor or any honest job is dignified in the United States, unlike here. Several successful professionals that I know started as janitors, waitresses, cooks or gas station attendants.

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Free enterprise, with its lure of big bucks, makes many people very creative. Entrepreneurs always find ways to make things better and faster. This is true in the field of recruitment of foreign workers (like Filipino professionals or OFWs) into the US or any other country. Fueled by stiff competition and the potentially lucrative profits in bringing supply to where there is great demand, some recruiters have resorted to blatantly illegal, immoral and unethical practices. Unscrupulous recruitment operators resort to these illegal means to earn big bucks fast. This comes at the great expense of the unsuspecting victims. These "creative" practices often circumvent the long and arduous legal processes imposed by both the emigrating and immigrating governments, which protect the welfare of the foreign workers and their potential employers.

Here is one example of documented modus operandi of illegal recruiters: A syndicate of illegal recruiters goes to Philippine provinces convincing uneducated folks that they have a contract to send, say, 200 laborers to go to the Middle East. But the applicants must pay for processing of the passport, health clearance, police or NBI clearance fees, visa, plane fare, etc. (amounting to some P75,000 per applicant).

These poor people borrow money, sell their cow or mortgage a piece of land just to be able to go abroad, hoping that the P75,000 can be earned in two or three months work as a laborer. To add insult to injury, and to make it appear very logical and "legitimate," these illegal recruiters even bus these naive provincial laborers to board a plane. Once aboard a chartered plane at night, they expect to be on their way to Jeddah or Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. What they do not know is that it is just a domestic flight bound for another island in Mindanao or the Visayas instead! The illegal recruiters then disappear from the scene, to start another recruiting scam in another distant province for another alleged labor contract for Japan.

Recruiting scams have become more sophisticated. Seventy-five nurses were recruited from the Philippines for the US. All the paperwork seemed proper and legitimate. But mostly, they were manufactured somewhere on Claro M. Recto Avenue where many forged documents are made. Visa, clearances, job offers – you name it. But lo and behold, there was no real US work visa.

The nurses were flown from the Manila International Airport to Mexico City, where they were supposed to be met by their American employers for a connecting flight to the United States. One of these victimized nurses has entered California illegally and now is employed as a caretaker in a board and care for which she is paid minimum wage, under-the-table, with free board and lodging. I wonder what happened to the 74 others.

Some seamen or merchant marine workers jump ship once they are given a temporary furlough for a few days on American soil. Before they leave the ship, they have already contacted friends or relatives who consent or encourage their becoming AWOL from their employing ship. Jumping ship with just the shirt on their back and a few personal belongings in their duffel bag starts an exciting, American adventure, full of hopes and fears. I personally know a person from our hometown that came to America exactly this way about 20 years ago. Now he has become a US citizen and homeowner. He is married and has two US-born sons.

The most daring act that I heard occurred during the days of the Subic and Clark Airbases.

Illegal recruiters had inside "partners" who knew the fine details of how military personnel fly from Subic or Clark to America using official MAC flights. All paper forms seemed legitimate. The "military" passengers (the beneficiaries of these official free military flights) were civilians who paid thousands of pesos to leave the Philippines. They were rehearsed and fully trained as to what to do in all the steps along the way. They were even given genuine US Army, Navy or Air Force uniforms to board these military aircraft or chartered planes. These planes were to fly into another military base or to another city in the US without the need of the usual tourist visa granted by the US Consul at the American Embassy in Manila. I heard hundreds succeeded using the modus operandi of this bold but creative illegal syndicate. I have personally met two of these "fake" military personnel who have resorted to this very risky way of coming to America. You want the ending of this true-life suspense story? Both are now successfully settled in California. Both are married to a naturalized US citizen nurse.

More stories will be narrated in the future. Abangan!

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E-mail me at [email protected] or erdelusa@hotmailcom. Visit the website of a reputable recruiter that I am personally familiar with, and can recommend:: www.nurseinamerica.com. Please also visit the website for of Katipunan USA, a charitable organization benefiting the Philippines, at www.katipunan-usa.org.