When Chinese peasants came to this country a century ago to help build railroads and mine gold, they were known as ”coolies” and they faced exploitation and discrimination.
Now, a New York company plans to bring thousands of Chinese farm workers to the United States under provisions of the new immigration law, and it contends conditions will not follow the 19th Century pattern.
But the plan has aroused controversy as some Chinese-Americans fear renewed exploitation and other critics question whether there is even a need for foreign farm workers.
The firm, the Chinagri Manpower Center, is run by two Chinese-American importers, K.K. Soo, the company president, and Cheeon Fung, the project director. They say their plan will adhere to federal regulations and will not exploit the workers.
”No way can you compare our program to what happened a century ago,”
said Fung, a native of Hong Kong who immigrated to the U.S. in 1970. ”We`re trying to be as sensitive as possible. This is entirely different. We don`t see how these people will be abused.”
Fung said the program has been started in response to published reports that there is a shortage of between 300,000 and 500,000 farm workers in the U.S. He said he already has received inquiries from growers in many parts of the country.
Moreover, he said the shortage could get larger in 1989 when the full provisions of the new immigration law take effect. After December, 1988, agricultural growers will lose their immunity from employer sanctions against hiring illegal workers.
Fung said Chinagri has signed a contract with China`s largest government farm corporation to provide the workers. They could start working as early as next spring.
Chinagri plans to import the workers under a federal program known as H-2A, which allows American employers to bring in foreign temporary employees if they can show there are no domestic workers to fill the jobs.
Under the program, the U.S. Department of Labor certifies that the jobs cannot be filled with Americans and the Immigration and Naturalization Service then issues temporary visas for foreign workers.
The program requires employers to pay minimum wages and provide housing, worker`s compensation and other benefits.
About 20,000 foreign workers have come to the U.S. annually under the program, which has existed for several decades. The new immigration law, though, has streamlined the approval process for obtaining visas and puts more requirements on employers to try to find domestic workers.
The fears over Chinagri`s plans arise from China`s practice regarding its 50,000 overseas workers in more than 70 countries and Beijing`s efforts to generate hard cash to finance that country`s modernization plans.
Experts say the Chinese government keeps as much as 90 percent of the workers` income. The workers still are paid more than they would receive in China, where factory workers average $27 a month, but far less than their foreign incomes.
”It`s exploitation, not by the United States employer, but by the Chinese government,” said Justin Yu, a reporter for the Chinese daily, the World Journal, who has studied the issue.
He said employers send the paychecks directly to the Chinese government which, after deductions, sends the remainder to the worker`s family in China. Receiving the minimum wage, Yu said, a worker could earn as much as $900 a month in the U.S., but his family probably will not receive more than $150 a month.
”One of the questions is whether they are better off,” said a State Department expert on China. ”They are earning more than they would be able to if they stayed at home, so I guess it comes down to how you define exploitation.”
But Fung said Chinagri will operate differently. He said under its contract with the Chinese government, the workers Chinagri imports will receive as much as 80 percent of their paychecks because their checks will be sent to Chinagri.
The rest of the money will go to China and toward Chinagri`s profit margin.
”The workers will make several thousand dollars in their pocket,” he said. ”They will never be abused. If that`s the case, we will never go into this endeavor.”
Also uncertain is whether there is a need for foreign workers. Historically, the H-2A program has been used by Eastern growers, who have imported workers mostly from the West Indies. As for Western growers, experts say they could replace their illegal workers with legal foreign workers.
”I can`t see the growers wanting to bring in someone all the way from China when they have resources much closer,” said Duke Austin, spokesman for the immigration service.
The United Farm Workers, contending there is no labor shortage, says growers are lowering wages to discourage domestic workers from looking for jobs and creating an artificial shortage.
Delores Huerta, a cofounder and vice president of the union, said that during the 1985-86 harvest season in California there were 388,000 workers for 270,000 jobs.
”Farm workers are only working part time because there are too many workers and not enough jobs,” she said, adding that the unemployment rate for farm workers ranges from 9 percent to 40 percent in different parts of the country.
