中国“走线客”涌入纽约唐人街
From China to New York, by Way of the Southern Border
When busloads of migrants from Venezuela and Latin America started turning up on New York City streets in 2022, it spurred a crisis that has overwhelmed city shelters and incited protests over immigration policies.
2022年，当载满了委内瑞拉和拉丁美洲移民的大巴车开始抵达纽约街头时曾引发一场危机，市内的收容所不堪重负，还激起了关于移民政策的抗议活动。
And while Mayor Eric Adams and city leaders have sought to slow the pace of new arrivals, there has been another, smaller but also growing group of migrants coming into the city — largely unnoticed.
在纽约市市长埃里克·亚当斯和城市领导层力图减缓新来者的涌入速度时，还有一个规模虽小但同样在不断增长的移民群体开始涌入这座城市，却没引起人们的过多注意。
Thousands of Chinese migrants have also made their way to New York, with many following on the heels of migrants from Central and South America and crossing at the United States-Mexico border. Once they reach the city, however, many are tapping into long-established family and social networks in Chinese enclaves to get on their feet quickly and, for the most part, on their own.
数以千计的中国移民也来到纽约，他们中的许多人是紧跟着中美洲和南美洲移民的脚步，越过美墨边界入境美国的。但一旦到达纽约，许多人将利用当地华人社区历史悠久的家庭和社交网络迅速站稳脚跟，而且通常能够做到自食其力。
It is not known exactly how many Chinese migrants have landed in New York. But immigration court filings since October 2022 show that New York State was their top destination — with more than 21,000 filings for Chinese migrants — followed by California, according to an analysis by Julia Gelatt, an associate director at the Migration Policy Institute.
尚不清楚到底有多少中国移民是这样来纽约的。但移民政策研究所副所长朱莉娅·格拉特用2022年10月以来提交给移民法庭的文件（其中有逾2.1万份是为中国移民提交的）做的分析显示，纽约州是他们的首选目的地，其次是加利福尼亚州。
The influx of Chinese migrants into the city has been the largest in more than a decade, and marks a return to the sizable immigration of Chinese people beginning in the 1980s that revived struggling neighborhoods like Chinatown, and cemented newer ethnic strongholds in Flushing, Queens, and Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
中国移民最近涌入纽约的规模是十多年来最大的，标志着一个现象的回归，从20世纪80年代开始，曾有相当规模的华人移民来到纽约，令唐人街等处于挣扎状态的社区恢复了活力，并巩固了皇后区的法拉盛和布鲁克林的日落公园等新的华人聚集地。
Yet, this revival of Chinese migration has attracted relatively little attention, in part because it has been dwarfed by the sheer numbers of people arriving from Latin America. The rapid increase in Chinese newcomers, nonetheless, promises to have a significant effect on New York City and its sprawling Chinese American community of 590,000, which is the largest in the nation.
然而，中国移民的再次增长引起的关注相对较少，部分原因是与来自拉丁美洲的移民数量相比，中国移民的数量微不足道。尽管如此，中国新移民的迅速增加很可能对纽约市以及分布在城市各处的纽约华裔美国人社区产生重大影响，纽约的华人社区总人口达59万，在美国居首。
“There’s a large-scale migration going on in the Chinese community that’s completely off the radar screen,” said Kenneth J. Guest, an anthropology professor at Baruch College who studies Chinese immigration.
“华人社区出现了大规模的移民，但完全没有引起人们的注意，”巴鲁克学院研究华人移民的人类学教授肯尼思·盖斯特说。
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The latest increase in Chinese migrants has been driven in part by frustration over China’s harsh pandemic-era lockdowns, authoritarian government and a worsening economy. A flurry of online and social media posts have provided detailed instructions and tips on how to cross the southern border.
最近中国移民数量的增长在一定程度上是因为人们对疫情期间中国实施的严厉封控措施、对威权主义的政府、对不断恶化的经济感到沮丧。网上和社交媒体上有很多帖子为人们提供了如何穿越美国南部边界的详细说明和有用提示。
Across the United States, the number of Chinese migrants has soared. There were 52,700 Chinese migrants arriving without a valid entry visa at land borders, and on boats and planes, during the federal government’s fiscal year 2023, or more than double the number just two years earlier, according to the analysis by Ms. Gelatt, of the Migration Policy Institute. Those numbers did not include people who came in without encountering border officials or later overstayed their visas.
美国各地的中国移民人数都在猛增。据移民政策研究所的格拉特做的分析，在联邦政府2023财年，有5.27万名没有有效入境签证的中国移民越过陆地边界或乘船和飞机抵达美国，是两年前的两倍多。这个数字不包括入境时没有遇到边境官员或合法入境后逾期居留的人。
These Chinese migrants have increasingly crossed at the southern border, with the number encountered by border officials there jumping more than sixfold to 5,980 in December 2023 from 950 a year earlier.
这些中国移民当中，越过南部边界进入美国的人数不断增多，边境官员2023年12月在南部边界遇到的中国移民人数与上年同期的950名相比猛增了六倍多，达到了5980名。
Still, they were just a small subset of the 3.4 million migrants who have crossed the southern border since October 2022, which included more than 974,000 Mexicans and over 410,000 Venezuelans.
尽管如此，他们只是自2022年10月以来越过南部边界的340万移民中的一小部分，这些移民包括逾97.4万名墨西哥人和逾41万名委内瑞拉人。
Wang Chao, 39, had worked as a hotel security guard in Hainan Province, an island in the South China Sea, before leaving China last October. He flew to Thailand, and then Turkey, before landing in Ecuador and embarking on the long trek north. He contracted dengue fever and malaria in rainforests in Panama and was later kicked off a truck carrying migrants in Guatemala because the driver thought someone cursed at him in Chinese.
39岁的王超（音）去年10月离开中国前曾是海南岛一家酒店的保安。他先飞泰国，再飞土耳其，最后在厄瓜多尔落地，开始向北长途跋涉。他在巴拿马的雨林中感染了登革热和疟疾，后来还在危地马拉被开卡车运移民的司机赶下了车，因为司机觉得有人在用中文骂自己。
Mr. Wang eventually crossed into California, where he said he was briefly detained by border authorities. When he was released, he continued on to Flushing, arriving in December. He paid $12 a night for a bunk in an apartment shared with other Chinese immigrants before recently moving out of state for work.
王超最终越过边界进入加利福尼亚州，他说他曾在那里被边境当局短暂拘留。获释后，他继续上路前往法拉盛，已于去年12月抵达。在法拉盛时，他曾每晚花12美元，在与其他中国移民合住的公寓里租了个床位。最近他因为工作离开了纽约州。
The Chinese migrants have largely stayed out of New York City’s shelters. Fewer than 400 of the more than 173,000 migrants passing through the city shelter system since spring 2022 have reported coming from China, according to city officials.
中国移民大多数都不会去纽约市的收容所。据市政府官员说，自2022年春季以来在纽约市的收容所系统住过的逾17.3万名移民中，只有不到400人来自中国。
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The Chinese newcomers did not need to rely on the shelters because they could turn to ethnic enclaves, which are home to many of the city’s 411,000 Chinese immigrants. Such enclaves have long played a key part in helping Chinese immigrants integrate into New York and other cities, according to Professor Guest of Baruch College.
新的中国移民之所以不需要依靠收容所，是因为他们可以求助于华人聚居的社区，纽约市的41.1万名华人移民中，许多人住在这些社区里。按照巴鲁克学院盖斯特的说法，这些华人社区长期以来一直在帮助华人移民融入纽约和其他城市方面发挥着关键作用。
These so-called Chinatowns began forming as early as the 1850s on the West Coast, Professor Guest said, and provided protection against anti-immigrant violence and discrimination, including the Chinese Exclusion Acts, which were restrictive immigration policies from 1882 to the 1940s. “The Chinese built ethnic support systems where they could pool financial and social capital,” he said.
盖斯特教授说，这些被称为“唐人街”的社区最早是从19世纪50年代开始在西海岸形成，在反移民暴力和歧视性政策的环境中为华人提供过保护。这里所说的歧视性政策包括《排华法案》，它曾从1882年到20世纪40年代限制来自中国的移民。“华人建立起支持系统，他们可以在其中整合财务和社会资本，”他说。
Today, that informal but well-developed Chinese support system in New York has become a “first resort” for recent migrants, said State Senator John C. Liu, whose district includes Flushing.
今天，纽约这种非正式但健全的华人支持体系已成为新移民的“首选”，代表法拉盛所在选区的州参议员刘醇逸表示。
Already, the Chinese migrants have helped replenish the city’s population following losses during the coronavirus pandemic, and have filled construction, restaurant and other service jobs that keep the local economy running.
纽约市的人口在新冠病毒大流行期间有所减少，中国移民帮助弥补了一些人口损失，并在建筑、餐馆和其他服务行业找到了工作，维持了当地经济的运转。
Chinese listings posted in Flushing storefronts and online advertise “family hotels” in apartment buildings that are like unofficial Airbnb rentals. In Sunset Park, where there is a large community of immigrants from Fujian Province, they have packed into churches for Sunday services and Bible study classes.
张贴在法拉盛的商铺和网上的中文广告中，包括公寓楼里的“家庭酒店”，这有点像非官方的Airbnb房屋出租。在住着大量福建移民的日落公园社区，参加周日礼拜和圣经学习班的新移民让教堂爆满。
At East Broadway Mall in Chinatown, hundreds of newcomers have gathered through word of mouth for help applying for city IDs and finding health care resources from community leaders.
在唐人街的东百老汇购物中心，数百名新移民透过口口相传聚集在那里，寻求社区领袖帮助他们申请城市身份证，寻找医保资源。
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Brad Song, 30, a migrant from Hunan who arrived last summer, found temporary refuge at a Chinese massage parlor in Flushing that let migrants sleep in the beds for $10 a night. At the supermarket where he went to buy noodles, a store worker helped him land a job at a Chinese banquet hall. He has also worked for the food delivery app Fantuan, and installed solar panels for a Chinese-owned company in New Jersey.
30岁的湖南移民布拉德·宋（音）去年夏天来到纽约，在法拉盛的一家中式按摩店找到了临时住所，那家店把床铺租给移民过夜，每晚10美元。在他去买面条的超市，一名店员帮他在一家中餐宴会厅找了一份工作。他还曾给食品外卖应用“饭团”送餐，并为新泽西州的一家中资公司安装过太阳能电池板。
But even as the migrants have settled in, their growing numbers have also created challenges in immigrant communities where many people were already struggling with financial insecurity and social isolation because of language and cultural barriers, as well as fears about their safety following a spate of anti-Asian hate crimes.
但即使移民们已经安顿下来，不断增长的人数也给移民社区带来了挑战，那里的许多人本已在努力应对经济上的不安全感，语言不通和文化障碍给他们造成的社会孤独感，以及接二连三地发生了针对亚裔的仇恨犯罪后，对他们自身安全的担忧。
There are 1.2 million New Yorkers of Asian heritage who make up about 15 percent of the city’s overall population, according to a census analysis by Social Explorer, a data research company. Within this diverse group — representing dozens of ethnicities, including Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Indian and Bangladeshi — there are significant socioeconomic disparities.
据数据研究公司Social Explorer的人口普查分析，纽约人中有120万是亚裔，约占该市总人口的15%。亚裔是个多元化的群体，包括韩裔、日裔、菲律宾裔、印度裔和孟加拉裔等几十个族群，他们之间存在着巨大的社会经济差距。
In 2022, Chinese immigrants had a median household income of $60,454, about half that of U.S.-born Chinese people, who tend to have more education and higher earnings. Citywide, the median household income was $75,046.
中国移民2022年的家庭收入中位数是60454美元，约为在美国出生的华人家庭的一半，美国出生的华人通常受教育程度更高，收入也更高。纽约全市的家庭收入中位数是75046美元。
The Chinese-American Planning Council, a social service agency, has expanded its programs to an additional 20,000 people over the past four years, but “the need is still out there,” said Wayne Ho, the president and chief executive officer. Hundreds remain on waiting lists for its adult literacy classes, mental health counseling, and four older adult centers in Flushing, Chinatown and Sunset Park.
社会服务机构华人策划协会已在过去四年里将项目覆盖的人数增加了两万人，但“需求仍然存在”，协会总裁兼首席执行官何永康说。协会的成人扫盲课、心理健康咨询，以及位于法拉盛、唐人街和日落公园的四个老年人中心的等候者名单上仍有好几百人。
Asian American leaders said their communities have long been underfunded by government programs, in part because of enduring model-minority stereotypes of Asians as self-sufficient and upwardly mobile. A 2015 report found that organizations serving the city’s Asian American communities had received a tiny part of the city’s social service contracts.
亚裔美国人社区的领袖说，他们的社区长期以来一直缺乏来自政府项目的资金，部分原因是难以打破的亚裔模范少数族裔刻板印象，即认为亚裔能靠自己的力量走向富裕。一份2015年的报告发现，为纽约市的亚裔美国人社区提供服务的组织只得到了该市社会服务合同中微小的一部分。
State Assemblywoman Grace Lee, whose district includes Chinatown, said there has been a “false narrative” around the needs of Asian communities that “we as legislators are trying to break.” Ms. Lee, who is Korean American, led a coalition of state legislators who helped secure $30 million in state funding last year specifically for Asian American organizations statewide.
While some of the newcomers have fled political and religious persecution in China, a growing number — including families, middle-class professionals and small business owners — are looking for more economic opportunity, said Edward Cuccia, an immigration lawyer in Chinatown, who has taken on more than 70 new Chinese asylum cases in the past two years. “America’s still the golden country in their eyes,” he said.
唐人街的移民律师爱德华·库西亚说，虽然一些新来者是为了躲避中国的政治和宗教迫害，但越来越多的人——包括家庭、中产阶级专业人士和小企业主——正在寻找更多的经济机会。他在过去两年里新增了70多件中国移民寻求庇护的案子。“美国仍然是他们眼中的黄金国度，”他说。
However, some migrants have found that they are not necessarily better off. At employment agencies in Flushing, dozens of recent migrants have returned day after day to sit on folding chairs waiting for jobs.
但一些移民已发现，他们不一定会变得更富裕。数十名新移民们日复一日地回到法拉盛的就业机构，坐在折叠椅上等待工作机会。
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Doris He, 31, has been one of the luckier ones. Ms. He went to work at a small Chinese bakery after arriving in Flushing last year with her husband, Li Jianfeng, 35, and their 9-year-old son. Back in Xi’an, China, she had been a barista in a coffee shop.
现年31岁的多丽丝·何（音）是比较幸运的人之一。去年，何女士与35岁的丈夫李建峰（音）和九岁的儿子来到法拉盛后，在一家小中式糕点店找到了工作。她离开西安前曾在一家咖啡店当过咖啡师。
“It’s a good start here, but we don’t earn enough money yet,” Ms. He said. “Compared to China, we’re doing OK.”
“虽然这是个好开端，但我们还没有挣到足够多的钱，”何女士说。“与在中国的时候相比，我们过得还行。”
