Did I promise to never write about immigration again? Toys “R” Us Edition
In Reversal, Toys “R†Us Gives 3 Baby Prizes
Catching you up if you haven’t seen: the big toy store mentioned in the title had a contest for a $25k college bond for the first U.S. baby born in 2007. A Chinese baby from NYC won from a random drawing in a 3-way tie, but was then found to be disqualified because the parents did not have legal status here in the U.S. So they drew another winner from the other 2 babies. Naturally, this makes national news because it’s a grave social injustice (even though it explicitly states in the contest rules that the parents must be legal U.S. residents). The eventual outcome, after Toys “R†Us took a beating in the press, was that they awarded the prize in triplicate to all three babies who were tied (including the disqualified one).
Yes, a major corporation was bullied into paying out a prize for a disenfranchised minority group (residents without legal resident status) who, by their very existence, are breaking the law here in America. And while I do like the outcome - I would never insist that the baby suffer for the mistakes of the parents - I just think it’s terrible that the company was pilloried by the Chinese-American community. Yes, that’s right - these minority racial and ethnic groups have figured out to confuse everyone by making immigration issues look like racial issues. In this particular case, an American lawyer of Chinese descent made the point through an email campaign that Chinese people are good enough to make our commodity retail items, but not good enough to win a scholarship:
… Albert H. Wang, a corporate lawyer who had mounted an e-mail campaign on the couple’s behalf, said that they were happy, adding, “I think justice has been done.â€
Some people were concerned that the parents’ status had been exposed, he said. “But the safest place is actually the eye of the storm,†Mr. Wang said, “and any politician who says we should deport the parents, it would be the end of their political career.â€
Deport them? No. But exactly what should we do, Mr. Wang? Shall we have no recourse for people who enter the country illegally? Should we not stand by some form of legal remedy for an illegal act, and reinforce the privilege of our own national citizens? At the very least, our society should receive some sort of contribution from people who sneak their way into the country and put a strain on the economy. (We still have unemployment here in America, so for that reason alone you have to hold illegal aliens liable for creating a hurtful situation to existing citizens) I kind of like the idea of some sort of “citizenship tax” in the form of government service or a cash payout as a residency application fee - assuming that, if you were not some insane murdering asshole from somewhere else, you’d be approved for permanent legal resident status. (Citizenship? They should still take the courses and learn English and everything, too.) To let this couple disappear into the crowd without having a solution for their legal residency problem - which it seems Mr. Wang is totally inclined to do at this point - is terrible not only for the parents (who will now continue to suffer the disadvantages of illegal status) and the child (who was born into a family in resident peril), but for the rest of us citizens who kinda need to find a way to fix this problem to prevent all sorts of bad things from continuing to happen to people.
Also, not lost on me is the fact that a citizen of Chinese descent made a Chinese-American issue out of the Chinese-American child of two Chinese illegal immigrants getting screwed out of a contest prize. You didn’t hear much from the Chinese when it was mostly Hispanics marching down Broadway for resident rights. Draw your own conclusions.