美華人職業介紹所：低端移民如何實現美國夢
Steve Wang，左，與秦根星說話，在蒙特利公園市的星星職介所
本站教育訊 《洛杉磯時報》近日關注了蒙特利公園市的華人職業介紹所的相關情況，曝光了職介所的經營內容和低端移民在美找工作的情況，是對庇護移民另一維度的展示，也是對中國人在美尋求“美國夢”的生動描繪。以下是本站移民頻道翻譯全文：
Wedged between a travel agency and a hair salon off one of Monterey Park's busiest streets, Honesty Employment Agency has no English sign.
在蒙特利公園市(Monterey Park)最爲繁榮的一條街上，“誠信職業介紹所”(Honesty Employment Agency)的牌子就豎在一家旅行社和一家美容沙龍中間，沒有英文招牌，一點都不起眼。
There one recent afternoon, three young men lounged on black leather couches, chatting in Mandarin about jobs in distant states.
一天下午，三名年輕人坐在介紹所內，互相用普通話談論着其他州的工作。
"Dallas is very good, if you know a little English," said the owner, Mimi Chen.
“只要你會一點點英語，達拉斯很好，”這家職業介紹所的老闆陳冪冪(Mimi Chen，音譯)稱。“我覺得沒戲，我肯定會一無所獲，”一名頭髮凌亂的男子回答稱。
"I'm afraid it won't work out, and I'll end up going for nothing," replied one man with spiky hair and a shy manner.
The phone rang, and soon Chen was niftily managing two conversations at once, a cellphone pressed to one ear, a landline to the other. She scrawled job listings in one of the notebooks stacked on her desk. Everyone calls her "Sister Chen."
電話響起，陳接着兩個電話同時應答，一邊是手機，一邊是固定電話。她一把抓起桌上的一個筆記本，草草在工作列表記下幾筆。大家都叫她“陳姐”。
"I have a stir-fry cook right here. He can do any job," Chen said before handing the phone to the cook for a quick interview with a restaurant owner.
“我這現在有個炒菜廚子，他什麼工作都能做，”陳姐簡單介紹後，把電話遞給那個廚子，與電話那頭的餐廳老闆進行了簡單的應試。
Here in this bare room, where a map of the U.S. is one of the only decorations on the walls, a young man newly arrived from northeast China can find work washing dishes in Minnesota or Utah for 12 hours a day, six days a week.
在這件簡陋的小屋裡，唯一的裝飾物是牆上掛着的美國地圖。一個剛從中國東北來美的年輕人，可以在這裡很快找到一份明尼蘇達或猶他洗碗工的工作，每天工作12個小時，每週休息一天。
“老闆們也是中國人，但他們卻壓榨中國人”
Honesty — official name: Xin Xin Service — is one of at least a dozen employment agencies near the intersection of Garvey and Garfield avenues that are gateways to a hidden economy, supplying Chinese-run businesses around the country with cheap labor.
嘉偉街(Garvey)和加菲爾德街(Garfield)的路口上，有十幾家這樣的職業介紹所。它們給華人業主直接提供廉價勞工，成了這種隱形經濟的直接通道。
In an afternoon or two at the agencies, stories emerge of immigrant dreams that have dead-ended in short-term gigs as fry cooks, busboys, masseuses or nannies. It is a world that rarely intersects with mainstream America except through bargain foot massages or the General Tso's chicken served at small-town restaurants.
移民帶着自己的夢想來到職業介紹所，想要討一份廚師、雜工、按摩師或保姆的工作。他們與美國主流社會幾乎毫無交際，除了在足療店按摩或在中餐館上菜的時候。
Some employers insist on a work permit or green card, while others will hire immigrants without legal status. In the lingo of at least one agency, "He has everything" means he has papers. "He doesn't have anything" means the job will be under the table.
有些僱主堅持要求僱工有工作許可證或綠卡，但不少人更喜歡沒有合法身份的移民。業內行話稱“他什麼都有”就是有證件，“什麼都沒有”就指只能做見不得光的工作。
While they wait, job seekers vent about unscrupulous bosses and exchange updates on their immigration cases, many of them involving asylum. The agencies deal in possibility but also its flip side.
在等待期間，來找工作的人會一起吐槽無良老闆，交流下自己移民進展。職業介紹所有時能提供合適的工作，有時也沒辦法。
Qiang Chen, 58, a veteran of the restaurant circuit who was waiting for a job in front of the Xing Xing Employment Agency on Garfield, shook his head and scoffed when asked if he ever received overtime pay.
58歲的陳強(Qiang Chen，音譯)在餐館打工多年。他在“星星中介”(Xing Xing Employment Agency)等着找工作。當被問及是否有拿到過加班費時，陳搖了搖頭，笑了笑。
"The bosses are bad. They should treat other Chinese well," said Chen, who has a green card. "Instead, it's Chinese taking advantage of Chinese. There's no job where you don't work at least 12 hours, from 10 in the morning until 11 at night."
“老闆們都很壞，都是中國人，他們本來應該好好對待同胞，”陳稱，“但實際上，他們就壓榨中國人。所有工作都會做12個小時，從早10點工作到晚上11點。”陳有綠卡。
Everything a Chinese immigrant needs can be found on this corner — an $8 haircut, the bread and noodle dishes of northeast China, dried sea cucumber to treat high blood pressure. A two-minute phone conversation at one of the employment agencies can be enough to secure a job.
中國移民可以在這個街角找到一切想要的服務——8美元的美髮、東北的麪條饅頭，甚至還有治療高血壓的幹海蔘。在介紹所聊上兩分鐘的電話，足以拿到一份工作。
A few years ago, Monterey Park cracked down on the agencies for occupying prime storefronts reserved for retail establishments. Job seekers spilled onto the sidewalks, chain-smoking as they waited, said Monterey Park City Manager Paul Talbot.
幾年前，蒙特利公園關閉了幾家職介所， 因爲他們佔用了預留給零售店的一些好的門面。找工作的人涌出到路邊人行道上，一邊等還一邊抽菸，蒙特利公園市政管理Paul Talbot說。
Now, most agencies are located upstairs or deep within shopping plazas, in compliance with zoning laws. About 20 are registered with the city.
如今，但多數職介所都位於樓上或者購物中心的深處，爲了符合分區法。大約20家是在市裡註冊的。
At Xing Xing, handwritten signs advertised for a driver in Tennessee — paying $3,000 a month — and a fast-food cook in Texas, for $3,300. Another agency listed jobs in New Mexico, Utah, Nebraska, Colorado and Wisconsin. Out-of-state jobs pay more than local ones and often include room and board.
在星星職介所，一個手寫的廣告牌上標明，田納西州的司機月薪是3000美元，德克薩斯州的快餐廚師月薪是3300美元。另外一家職介所列出了新墨西哥、猶他州、內布拉斯加州、科羅拉多州以及威斯康辛州的一些工作機會。州外的工作通常比本州的工作收入要高，而且通常還包食宿。
Workers foot the referral fee — typically, $40 for restaurant or massage jobs, $80 for domestics. Transportation costs are also the worker's responsibility, unless the job lasts at least six months.
求職者要付給職介所介紹費，典型的來說，餐館或按摩的工作是40美元，傭人的工作是80美元。交通費用也由求職者承擔，除非能工作半年以上。
"You can call from any part of the country to get a nanny or a restaurant worker sent to you," said Xiaojian Zhao, a professor of Asian American studies at UC Santa Barbara who has studied the employment agencies. "They are like labor distribution centers for the ethnic economy."
趙小劍（音），一位在加州大學聖塔芭芭拉分校亞裔美國人研究方面的教授，此前研究了華人職介所，他說，“你能從美國人任何一個地方打電話招收一個保姆或餐館工，他們一定能給你找到，他們就像是少數族裔經濟圈中的勞動力分配中心。”
“蒙特利公園市做爲亞裔移民的傳送口已經30年了”
Prosecutions of Chinese employment agencies are rare. But in January, agency owners in Houston were arrested on federal conspiracy charges, accused of providing jobs to immigrants from Mexico and Central America who were not authorized to work in the U.S.
華人職介所被控訴的案例很少。但今年1月份，休斯頓職介所的老闆被逮捕，以聯邦罪的名義提出控訴，控告他們給來自墨西哥和中美洲的無工作許可的移民介紹工作。
U.S. Department of Labor officials have visited the Monterey Park employment agencies to distribute information about workplace laws. Federal investigators have found that some Chinese restaurants that employ immigrants violate overtime and minimum wage requirements by paying a flat salary, said spokeswoman Priscilla Garcia.
美國勞工部的官員已經走訪了蒙特利公園的職介所，向他們介紹勞動法方面的信息。聯邦調查員發現一些僱傭移民的中餐館違反了超時工作和最低薪資等要求，他們只給付基本的固定工資，聯邦發言人Priscilla Garcia說。
The ease of finding work gives immigrants a measure of power. They can walk away from an unsatisfactory posting and return to Monterey Park to try their luck elsewhere. The wages, low by American standards, are still more than they could make in China.
找工作容易給了移民一定的力量，他們可以隨時從一個不滿意的職位上離職，然後返回蒙特利公園再找其他的工作。他們所得到的工資，雖然比美國標準工資低，但也比他們在中國能掙的多。
"Is room and board included? How much is the plane ticket? $200? One way? OK, that works," said a thick-set man in a yellow T-shirt and jeans, on the phone with a restaurant boss outside Xing Xing.
“ 包食宿嗎？交通費多少？200美元？單程？好，可以。”一個矮矮胖胖的穿着黃色T恤和牛仔褲的人，在星星職介所外面跟一家餐館的老闆打電話。
The man, a recent immigrant from northeast China, had just scored a job in Pennsylvania, though he said he had no idea where that was.
他最近從中國東北移民過來，剛剛敲定了一個賓夕法尼亞州的工作，儘管他根本不知道那是在哪。
Nearly all the job seekers are Chinese, but some Latinos have discovered the agencies. On a recent afternoon, a trio of young Guatemalan men walked out of Yang Guang Employment Agency on Garfield, soon to start as dishwashers at a Chinese restaurant in West Covina.
幾乎所有找工作的人都是中國人，也有一些拉丁裔的人找到了這些職介所。最近一個下午，三個來自危地馬拉的年輕人從位於Garfield的陽光職介所走出來，他們很快將要在西科維納的一家中餐館做洗碗工。
"We have been the portal, the Ellis Island, of Asian immigrants for 30 years," said Talbot, the city manager. "We see people walking down the sidewalk with suitcases. They've just landed. I don't know how they get here from the airport, but they get here."
市長Talbot說，“我們已經做爲亞裔移民的傳送口30年了，我們經常看見他們拖着行李箱在人行道上走。他們剛剛抵達。我不知道他們如何從飛機場來到這裡的，但是他們就是能到這裡。”
“新移民來美不容易，我會盡力幫他們找工作”
Of the three employment agencies in a small shopping plaza off Garfield Avenue, Chen's is by far the busiest.
在Garfield大街之外的一家小型購物中心裡有三家職介所，其中Chen家的職介所是最繁忙的。
Mimi Chen, 43, is a native of Hunan who owned a chain of nursery schools in China. Her wavy bangs and large glasses are old-fashioned, but her wardrobe includes flashy staples like a tight turquoise minidress and a zebra print cardigan. She says her clients came to the U.S. to make money, and she helps them achieve that goal.
陳冪冪，43歲，湖南人，在中國有擁有一連串的護工學校。她波浪大卷的髮型和寬大的眼鏡看起來比較落伍，但她的行頭包含一些很時髦的東西，比如一條湖綠色的超短緊身裙和一件斑馬紋的羊毛衫。她說她的客戶來到美國就是爲了賺錢，她會幫助他們達成那個目標。
"I will help them with their problems and create a road for them to travel," Chen said. "It's not easy for new immigrants."
陳說，“我會幫助他們解決問題，並未他們的未來鋪路。（我知道）這對於新移民來說不容易。”
Chen said there is nothing illegal about her middleman role. If bosses violate labor or immigration law, "that's their problem," she said, while workers are free to refuse the jobs.
陳說，自己作爲中間人的這個生意沒有什麼不合法的。如果僱主違反了勞動法或移民法，那是他們的問題，而且僱員也可以自由地拒絕這些工作。
"If you want to go do that job, go do it. If you don't like it, I'll help you find something else," she said.
“ 如果你想要做那個工作，就去做吧，如果不喜歡，我也可以給你找其他的工作”，她說。
Bosses are blunt about their requirements: only women, preferably pretty women, not too old, not from that province. Many deals are finalized with hurried phone interviews, so both parties rely on Chen's judgment. She dispenses advice as freely as jobs, often in a schoolmarmish scold, counseling immigrants to lower their expectations.
僱主的要求都是很直白的：只招女人，尤其是漂亮女人，不要太老，不是從那個省來的。很多交易都是通過匆忙的電話面試拍板的，所以求職者和僱主雙方都依賴於陳的判斷。像分配工作時一樣，陳提供自己的意見也很自由，經常用女校長的責備語氣，跟移民們說讓他們降低他們的期望值。
"If this store is so great, why would they hire inexperienced people?" she told a woman hoping to break into the massage business. "So go there and learn something, then go somewhere else."
“如果這個店真得很好，他們爲啥要僱傭沒經驗的人呢。所以，去那吧，學點東西，然後再去別的地方。”她這樣跟一個想要進入按摩業的女求職者說。
Chen's matchmaking is not limited to jobs. For $2,000, she will venture into affairs of the heart.
陳做中間人不止是限定在找工作上。如果給2000美元中介費，她還會幫助解決心理上一些問題。
“在美國生活簡單得多，在中國到處都要靠關係”
After several hours of waiting, the spiky-haired young man approached Chen's desk. He would give only his last name, Miao, because he had not yet received the work permit typically issued to asylum applicants.
在等了幾個小時後，那名頭髮亂糟糟的年輕人擠到陳的桌前。他姓苗(Miao，音譯)，一年前從河北省來美，還沒拿到工作許可證。
Since coming to the U.S. from Hebei province a year ago, Miao has waited tables at Chinese buffet restaurants in Nebraska and Owasso, Okla. The 12-hour shifts, for tips only, were too grueling. He wanted to try his hand at massage.
一年來，苗在內布拉斯加、俄克拉荷馬的中餐廳當過服務員。每天工作12個小時，沒有基本工資只有小費，他覺得太累了。這次，他想試試去按摩店工作。
"Can I get my wife and kid over here? If I don't pass my asylum interview, this will all be for nothing. Should I take this time to learn English?" Miao asked. But Chen was on the phone again and didn't reply.
“我能把老婆孩子接過來嗎？如果我沒通過庇護測試，就都白費了。我應該藉此機會學學英語嗎？”苗問道。但陳姐又打起了電話，沒有回答他。
In Monterey Park, Miao stays at a "family hotel" — a boardinghouse, where the going rate is $10 a night to share a room with many other immigrants. From there, he can hop on a plane or a Greyhound bus at a moment's notice. He studied hotel management in college and would like to train as a nurse or electrician.
苗住在一家“家庭旅社”裡，跟很多移民擠在一個屋子裡睡覺，每晚租金10美元。他大學學的酒店管理，想當名護理員或者電氣工。
"Life is simpler in the U.S. In China, it's all about guanxi," Miao said, referring to the personal relationships that are currency in Chinese culture. "You can't get a job without guanxi."
“在美國生活要簡單得多。在中國，到處都靠關係，”苗稱，“沒關係你就沒工作。”
A week later, he had given up on switching to massage. He found a job, through another Monterey Park employment agency, and was headed to one more buffet restaurant, this time in Denver.
一週後，他放棄了轉行做按摩的想法。他通過另外一家職業介紹所找到了工作，準備去一家新的餐館。這次，他去了丹佛。