immigrant has had to face, no matter which ocean the immigrant

crosses.

Regarding the bill itself, the Asian-American community is in a strong position to benefit-particularly on a percentage basis—from whatever sums may eventually be allocated to New York State and possibly to New York City as a gateway city. The attached table shows that, of the total numbers of immigrants admitted into New York State from all countries, over 10 percent of that immigrant flow is now made up of Chinese, Filipinos, and Koreans. Between the years of 1960 and 1973, the percentage of these groups alone has grown approximately five-fold in New York State. For 1960 and 1961, the percentage of new immigrants who are Chinese, Filipino, or Korean was 2.3 percent and 1.9 percent respectively.

While the absolute numbers of other Asian and Pacific immigrants may be small, the likelihood is that the number of all Asian and Pacific immigrants may bring the total percentage up to at least 11 percent, if not more, of all immigrants into New York State. On the other hand, Asian and Pacific peoples in the Greater New York area have never shared in any Federal program to the extent of 10 percent or 11 percent of the resources made available.

With the exception of a few services funded and operating in Chinatown, no services exist anywhere in the Greater New York area which are funded for and operated by the Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, or other Asian and Pacific peoples living in that area. Indeed, given the large numbers of new immigrants among the Chinese and the concentrated numbers impacted into Chinatown, not enough services are available in Chinatown, either. Since the bill proposed by Congresswoman Mink holds the hope of funding and tailoring services to meet the needs of Asian and Pacific immigrants, a major opportunity appears which might appreciably change the bleak picture of services designed for our communities. Consequently, the Asian American Caucus of Greater New York is solidly in support of the intent and goals of this legislation.

But two questions might require further examination. First, why is the computation of all immigrants in the United States limited to data "reflected in the most recent decennial census"? Census Bureau data grows out of date each month and year until a new census is taken. But highly reliable figures from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service are obtainable on a year-to-year basis, and it is the facts of immigration which are at the heart of the bill. Furthermore, immigration data strengthen the rate or level of allocation of service resources for Asian and Pacific peoples who, in Greater New York, usually have to compete for such resources on a very unequal basis in other program areas.

Second, where can one find data on the "percentage of all functionally illiterate (in the English language) immigrants in the United States who reside in each State"? The U.S. Census Bureau collects data on the number of years of education completed by an individual, and less than 5 years of education may characterize a functionally illiterate person in general. But to our knowledge there may be a category dealing with functionally illiterate persons in the English language as collected by either the U.S. Census Bureau or the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

One serious objection raised outside of the Asian-American communities to the bill in its present form is already known to those of us who also work with our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters in the Greater New York area. As it now stands, the bill entitles AmericanSamoans to be computed toward the funding allotment which any State receives, as long as the Samoans counted are not residents of Samoa itself. Why are not Puerto Ricans afforded equal treatment? That is, why, for example, cannot New York State compute into its calculations the number of Puerto Ricans immigrating to New York State from Puerto Rico?

Although the net total of Puerto Ricans remaining in the Greater New York area may be gradually diminishing, there still is daily immigration from Puerto Rico, and New York State continues to absorb that immigration with its existing limited resources as it attempts to absorb all other immigrant groups. In short, it is probably both logical and nondiscriminatory in the context of the bill's treatment of Samoans to include Puerto Ricans as eventual beneficiaries of the legislation as well as humane to do so. Moreover, additional political support could probably be expected for the bill from the majority of the New York State congressional delegation, which counts. 39 Congressman, and, of course, two Senators.

At any rate, thank you again for the opportunity to present the views of the Asian-American Caucus of Greater New York on this landmark piece of proposed legislation. I would also like to express my gratitude to the office of Congressman Hugh Carey, now Governorelect of New York State, for helping to arrange for our organization's appearance. In addition, I hope that the subcommittee will find it possible to hold regional hearings on the bill, H.R. 9895, particularly in the Greater New York area, which for decades, has served as one of the greatest ports of entry-and home-for millions of immigrants who have already contributed so much to the vitality and strength of the Nation. If our organization, or I, can be of further service, please let me know.

Mrs. MINK. Thank you very much, Mr. Calabia.

Mr. Lee, Asian Americans for a Fair Media, New York.

Mr. LEE. I am here on behalf of Asian Americans for a Fair Media. Our organization is dedicated to the combating of specifically racist images directed toward aliens in the media, but we feel that in the course of our study we have noticed other patterns developing and for those reasons we wish to make the following testimony.

I would like to refer-if the committee has not already-that they get copies of the HEW Asian American Field Study from which many of my statistics come and also the transcript of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission hearing in New York City held this past July 1974. I have noted with growing concern that many of the previous speakers have not interjected historical footnotes to the whole process of immigration. I think that is imperative to understand why people come to America. Why do people leave their homeland as it were? It would be most fitting, therefore, to start with the Chinese.

Chinese came to the United States primarily because the encroachment of European imperialism by the end of the 1850's had reached such a point in China that it was no longer possible for the Chinese

people to determine their own destinies. The Europeans were also supporting a morabund, dying, corrupt, inefficient Manchu dynasty. The T'ai P'ing Rebellion. Now if you read history books, we find that the T'ai P'ing Rebellion initially had the support of the European powers, probably because it had certain pseudo-Christian-type beliefs. But toward the end of it it became apparent that "My, Lord, these Chinese really want to control their own country." So the Europeans changed sides and they supported the Manchus in suppressing this rebellion.

The result of this was that immediately following it there came a reign of terror throughout all of China, most particularly in Southern China where support for the rebellion had been quite strong. As a result of this political oppression combined with natural calamities many Chinese saw fit to leave their country.

When they came to America, they found the West opening up. Industries were opening up in California. It was not the goal they came for. They built the railroads. They built canneries, they drained swamps, established the winery industry in northern California. This among many other things. However, they became a threat to the white laborers, so in 1882 after numerous agitations the Chinese were legislated out of the immigration.

But in the 1890's, Japan began-Japanese immigrants began to immigrate to this country, specifically to California. One of the reasons they came was the rapid industrialization of Japan was causing such social and economic turmoil that again Japanese peasants were forced to leave their homelands and they were welcome in California because they were willing to take the place that cheap Chinese labor had originally taken. This is very interesting because a few years later after the suppression of the Filipino independence movement in the first decade of the 20th century, the Filipinos began to come to this country in significant numbers and there the introduction of the Filipinos on the American scene neatly coincided with the heightening of anti-Japanese agitation.

Also in the early 20th century the Koreans began to come to this country in significant numbers. This was in response to the imperialists of Japan who had taken over their country and I might add this takeover of Korea was done with the tacit approval of Theodore Roosevelt, for which he got the Nobel Prize.

Now, presently today we still have these three Asian nationalitiesprimarily the Chinese, Filipinos and Koreans. Together they compose 19 percent of all immigrants who entered the United States in the last fiscal year.

They are still running away from the same sorts of problems. It is interesting to note that the social, economic, and political plights which visited their homelands in the past are still in very much live form still affecting their country today.

Statistically most of my information will deal with the Chinese since that is the community from which I come, but the information. is basically the same for all other Asian groups.

Most recent reports indicate that this community may be composed of as many as 87.7 percent immigrants in the New York City area. And of this population fully 64 percent of those questioned in the IIEW study entered the United States within the last 13 years, between the years 1960 and 1973.

We are also told that not many of the previous speakers have mentioned there is an unemployment problem. The specific statistics according to the HEW study again is 10.8 percent.

Now I believe it is a good couple of percentages higher than the national percentage rate. I think more significant than that is the underemployment rate. And I do not have figures for that, but in 1969 it was noted that there was significant underemployment in the community.

The median income for a Chinese family in New York City Chinatown-excuse me, I will correct that-median income for a family in New York City Chinatown-this includes Italian and Puerto Rican families who may be living in the area-is approximately $6,500 a year. The average size of the family is 5.2 persons.

The consequences of that are becoming immediately apparent. In order to make ends meet, many of the immigrants have to work more than the 30, 35, or 40 hours which most of us think of as being the standard work week.

Again I would refer the committee to the printed testimony which has the breakdown of the percentages. It is also alleged from time to time that immigrants come in and they have no skills. According to the 1973 annual report of the Immigration and Naturalization Service we find that of the over 21,000 Chinese entering, approximately 28 percent of them had either professional, managerial skills or semiskilled job trades when they came in.

Sixty-one percent of this population that came in were housewives and children, which leaves a relatively small percentage of approximately 38 percent who do not come in with some kind of prior skill.

I think it is also imperative to understand the nature of the industries where we found immigrants concentrated. They are basically what you would call marginal industries. In a period of recession marginal industries are the first ones who are hit and they are hit hard.

In the past once upon a time there were 4,000 Chinese laundries in New York City. There are now 1,000. Out of that 3,000 drop are 2 which my family owned. But it is interesting to note that the laundry industry where many Chinese are concentrated is declining.

Also the economic structure of the garment industry which according to the 1969 Chinatown report 75 percent of the women engaged in-it is a very strange sort of industry. You see the shops, the garment shops, in Chinatown-this holds for San Francisco as well as New York City-are subcontractor, which means that if a designer were to come up with a hit number and he has limited production capacities, rather than investing the money to buy new machines and hire new workers and expand the plants, he will go out and find a subcontractor who will for a fixed sum of money produce a number of skirts, pants, coats, or whatever the item happens to be.

What this means is out of that fixed sum, let's say $10.000, the subcontractor will have to pay his rent for his plant, the upkeep on his machinery, and also the salaries for his workers, and also his profits. So as it gets whittled down by the time it has gone to someone like my mother who is working in a garment shop, you are making less than minimum wage and then you have all sorts of abuses because the ILGWU, which is supposed to champion the cause of garment workers in this country, has been very negligent. If anything, they

have actually suppressed wages and they do not terribly support workers who agitate for greater benefits and greater wages.

Another form of discrimination which may, many Asians see is in the area of immigration, immigration itself. The whole enforcement is fraught with a-it is fraught with ample opportunity for the abuse of an individual's civil rights. Again, from the testimony from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, one of the individuals testifying there-and these are the criteria which are used for detaining an individual for questioning.

. . . For example, some of our men will observe the shoes these people are wearing, and these shoes are peculiar and unique in that they are generally cheap shoes that have been fabricated in institutions, like prisons. The cut of their clothing, oftentimes it is skimpily fitted; the lapels are quite different from the general run of our American styles, or people that we would ordinarily encounter.

Then he is questioned.

They stand out from the normal. That is, they stand out from the normal pattern and, of course, there is the language which is different. And then, as is indicated here, some individuals observing this operation would break and run.

I would say that if someone were looking at me very inquisitively, I might be prone to run also because how do I know that he is not going to take a baseball bat to my head, but the thing is, on the basis of rather subjective criteria an individual will be detained for questioning. And this is not only among people who look unusual.

A couple of years ago my uncle, who lives in a suburb of New Jersey, had his house literally invaded by an immigration agent who was without search warrant. My uncle happens to be-an uncle and his wife who are American citizens by birth. This was in a white community where they are living and this immigration agent wanted to come in and search their house for illegal immigrants.

I do not know if it is true or not, but I have heard accounts where he did pull a gun on my uncle, all of which was quite unnecessary, I think.

So, again in the area of education there is a necessity and those existing programs are totally inadequate for the 61 percent of the population of the Chinese population and there are comparable figures for Filipino and Korean, that these people require bilingual and bicultural programs.

In New York City we have this interesting variation called Community School Boards and right now on the Lower East Side of New York there is raging a fantastic controversy in the school district, one where a small group wanted to take over the community school board and in doing so, they would dismantle those bicultural, bilingual programs which identified and administered to the needs of the Puerto Ricans, Chinese, and black students in that area, which do happen to form the majority of the school population.

Chinese parents have actively taken part in this, but with the present atmosphere in Washington of cutting back on these programs, even if they do win, the picture is not at all very rosy.

I would also like to add that in the area of vocational training, again in New York City recently there has been-those of you who have been to New York recently have noticed in Chinatown there is this huge construction project going up called Confucius Plaza and