Illegals Today

Although I've never thought of Barack Obama as an African American, Koreans, particularly those with dark skins and who are immigrants do:

“Skin color deeply affects the way the one million migrant workers residing in Korea are treated. Those from China, Vietnam, the Philippines and some African countries generally hold low-paying, labor-intensive jobs in and around industrial complexes and are looked down upon, while white North Americans are usually welcomed as English teachers and business consultants.

"As a minority in Korea, I welcome Obama, a minority in the U.S.," said Maung Zaw, 39, a Myanmarese democracy activist who recently received refugee status in Korea.

"I don't think the U.S. and the world will change overnight after Obama comes to power. But I trust this is a symbol, opening doors for minorities in the long term."

Seeing Obama in the White House will also be an inspiration to the many North Korean defectors for whom political representation is still a long way off. . . “

Even North Korean defectors are pleased.

“My expectations from Obama are that...we North Koreans are a minority here but some of us can also become lawmakers and politicians some day," said Kim Yoon-hee, 30, a Hankuk University of Foreign Studies professor who defected from North Korea in 2000. "Why shouldn't we? There's no law that prohibits us."

Obama has said he is willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in person, and was generally seen as being more able to successfully help the reclusive state rejoin the international community than his hardline Republican rival John McCain. But McCain still enjoyed support from older North Korean defectors who perceived Obama as too naive to handle Pyongyang's nuclear brinkmanship.”

"OBAMA'S WIN INSPIRES HOPE FOR N. KOREANS, IMMIGRANTS IN S. KOREA." AsiaPulse News, 05-NOV-08. from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-35721073_ITM

Labels: Barack Obama, Korean immigrants, Koreans

LOS ANGELES -- Approximately 230,000 undocumented Koreans were residing in the United States as of January 2007, reports the Korea Times. The figure is based on the report Illegal Alien Resident Population by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The number of undocumented Koreans has decreased by some 20,000 from the year earlier, yet Korea ranks number seven in countries with the largest number of undocumented immigrants in the United States.



Mexico is the leading country of undocumented immigration, with 7 million, or 59 percent of the U.S. undocumented population. El Salvador came next with 540,000, followed by Guatemala with 500,000, and the Philippines and China, each with 290,000. Koreans made up 2 percent of the U.S. undocumented population.The United States has seen a growing number of undocumented immigrants - 11.8 million last year, up from 11.3 million in 2006 and 8.5 million in 2000. Brazil, India and Guatemala showed the biggest increase in undocumented immigration to the United States. By state, California had the most undocumented residents, with 2.8 million, or 24 percent of the state's immigrant population, followed by Texas with 1.7 million and Florida with 1 million. (See 230,000 undocumented Koreans, New America Media)

Labels: Koreans