The Chinese climbed the mountains in groups for three months, and finally arrived in the United States, earning only $20 a day but saying that they have no regrets! Chinese family hotels are full, a large number of people have no work cards, and Chinese employers are also in a hurry...
1 line to the United States for three months, earn 20 knives a day without regret
Due to the relaxation of the domestic passport application policy after the epidemic, the number of passport issuance has exploded, but because it is difficult to obtain a US visa, more and more Chinese are coming to the United States by line. Chinese who want to "run" to live in the United States, they look for like-minded "run" friends on various social platforms, cheer each other up and provide advice; Along the way, they will have to pass through dangerous rainforests, escape gangsters and risk huge lives, but witnesses say it is a worthwhile journey, even whether they arrive or not. At the end of July, Zhang Xu (pseudonym), who had been in the United States for five months, settled in New York, he went to bed early and got up early every day, bought vegetables to cook, exercised, lived in a family hotel for $320 a month, and went to Central Park to sell songs when he had time, but he always had a headache and expensive subway tickets, and his income was very small, sometimes only twenty or thirty dollars a day.
However, he was very satisfied, although he had worked hard for three months to walk the line, and "did not regret it at all". Before entering the rainforest, he said, he made a phone call with his family, "just to tell them to get ready" and "I had the idea that I might never return." Mr. Zhang said he had always yearned for life abroad, "thinking of working hard to earn money and then getting a visa," but that expectation became increasingly impossible, "slowly wearing out hope, and maybe never hopeing." Staying in the same family hotel as Zhang Xu, there is also Huang Zhi (pseudonym), who arrived in New York in April this year. After that, Huang Zhi treated life with the mentality of "lying flat", although he enrolled in a domestic university to study physics, he spent the entire four years watching American dramas and American movies, "I haven't seen a single domestic drama." After graduation, he worked in sales and also entered the factory, but in his words, "it was all mixed up".
"Whether there is an epidemic or not, I will go abroad because I am already disappointed," Huang Zhi said, so when he saw the line plan on Douyin this year, he immediately set off; His most fearful time along the way was a sea road from Necoclí to Capurgana, and he was crouched on the deck with the side of the ship, and he was bounced up from time to time, and the salty sea entered his throat from time to time, until a tall and strong Afghan man asked Huang Zhi to support him, "and I hugged his waist tightly, and he kept patting me, comforting me, and at that moment I felt that he was like Jesus". Huang Zhi is glad that he made it to the United States alive, "at least every penny earned in the United States is my own, and I can speak freely, so no matter how hard it is, it is worth it."
Zhang Xu had the same idea, but it was even more tragic, "I am 40 years old this year, I have nothing, even if I really die, I will save money on the cemetery." Regarding the question of future identity, he seems very free, "It's hard to barely do one thing, it's hard to stay here, and if I am really repatriated, I will think that I have experienced it." If he could stay, he said, the wish was to buy a car and camp everywhere. Huang Zhi seemed even more confused, he said that he wanted to get married and have children, but felt that it was a luxury, "We are like this, we have no money and no background, I can't see me, I can't see me", he laughed, "It seems to be from one cage to another."
2 Chinese homestays are full
Mr. Zhang, who came to the United States five or six years ago, is the owner of a line-based mutual aid group in WeChat, helping Chinese compatriots who come daily to solve problems. According to his observations, since the beginning of this year, "after the mainland relaxed, the number of people coming out has skyrocketed." According to several Chinese who came to the United States, the cost of routing ranges from 50,000 to 80,000 yuan, and a few will reach hundreds of thousands of yuan.
Mr. Zhang added that many people have used online loans to cover their travel expenses, "It is difficult to say whether they can pay back in the end, after all, many people who have made up their minds to come out do not want to go back." He revealed that many people can still borrow hundreds of thousands of yuan before going abroad, but after applying for a passport, they cannot take out loans, "Domestic big data is powerful, and all kinds of information are too terrible." "After coming to the United States, the most important thing is to find a place to stay. Mr. Zhang said, "Most of the stay is Flushing's family hotels, which are now almost full every day." As far as he knows, Flushing has a massage parlor that "can be rented for 10 dollars a night, and can accommodate twenty or thirty people."
There are more than 3 people, and physical work is difficult to find
"The most important problem is to survive, but the job after coming to Flushing is not easy to find," Mr. Zhang said, "so many people come in at once, and they have no identity but illegal work, such as decoration, massage, restaurant, and work on farms out of the state. Mr. Zhang said that the way to find a job is usually to go to local information websites such as Chinese advertising platforms, or to employment agencies. He mentioned that one of the more famous is the Red Apple Agency in Flushing, where almost every day you go to see overcrowding, mostly young and middle-aged men.
Geng Xing, the owner of the Red Apple Agency, said that this situation began in February this year. She said with a smile that in the past, employers often came to find her, but because of the emergence of this large number of "line runners", the job market was oversupplied, "Now I have to go to an employer, and there are many people who have not found a job in two months."
It has been observed that most of the unemployed men in the agency are concentrated in their forties and fifties, and a 45-year-old man from Fujian who heard about the work of a small decoration worker after waiting for nearly a month, so he actively fought for it, but Geng Xing hesitated, "I don't know if your old employer wants it, and the employer is from the northeast, I am afraid that I will not be able to eat with you." Geng Xing introduced that "the most important thing is the age and where the local people are, it is easier to find a job in your 30s to 40s, and then it is best to come from a place with your employer, and the taste of eating is similar."
4. Some people can't endure hardships and return to China
She said that in addition to hard conditions, Chinese immigrants generally face difficulties in finding employment. "Restaurants and enterprises have relatively high salaries, but most of them require to know English, and only two or three of 100 people understand at most"; And even the work of the back kitchen in restaurants requires skilled hands, and "many people can't use knives."
So many people can only do miscellaneous work, such as portering and freight, she said, and earn about 2,500 to 3,000 yuan a month, "long hours, tired work", or go away from the state. Geng Xing said that many people even quit their jobs and ran back to China, "because the conditions for many routes are not bad now." But she said there are also some people who, even if they find such a gap, cannot go back, "to support their families and earn their capital."
5 Chinese boss: I hope to issue a work card to the line-up
A Chinese restaurant operator who already owns a number of chain stores in New York City not only supports the federal issue of work cards to undocumented customers as soon as possible, he also said: "Great! "I welcome workers of any ethnicity, as long as they are 'normal people.'" The industry said on condition of anonymity that "workers everywhere are better than local workers in the United States." The industry pointed out that since the outbreak of the epidemic in the United States, the professionalism of local people has declined significantly, and "I want to take leave and quit at every turn", resulting in a shortage of workers and high rents becoming two of the most difficult problems in the catering industry.
"I believe that these new immigrants will work hard to have a stable life, and we will also give these migrant workers the benefits and treatment they deserve in accordance with the regulations." He said. Wayne Ho, CEO and president of CPC, which started in Manhattan, New York City, has about 5,000 caregivers and urged the federal government to issue work cards to undocumented customers from a humanitarian perspective.