[thrwy_01]

Another reason why Chinese love coming here is to take advantage of government benefits, particularly with regard to medical care. There is effectively no social safety net over there, and Chinese who are well off enough to set themselves up over here find America to be an easy mark. I personally know of many recent immigrants talking about loopholes to hide their overseas assets to qualify for Medicare and section 8 vouchers, and how to avoid detection of their ties to the communist party.

A big difference between these immigrants and earlier waves is the ones coming now have already made it, often by being shrewd about playing the system. This also means they have no compulsion or desire to assimilate, unlike past immigrants who had to work within the system here to ultimately find success. I have been personally shocked by the level of contempt shown of American values - although this is something you will only see expressed to members of the same circle (I look like them and can talk like them, which gains me admittance).

All of my own grandparents and some of my own parents immigrated from china, and I have many other friends, acquaintances and family members who I would qualify as recent arrivals (my more negative statements apply to some of them) so I am not inherently anti Chinese immigrant. But I am not optimistic about the new arrivals being a positive thing in the long term.

[jacquesm]

Ah the old 'I got in, now let's close the door behind me'. This is a pretty repetitive thing, I never understood it. You of all people should understand that motivations change from one generation to the next and that your viewpoint has only shifted a bit because your family had the foresight to emigrate when they could. For all the same money it'd be you trying to emigrate today and then you'd be one of those 'new arrivals' yourself.

In the long term, everybody's dead. In the short term it won't matter much but you could make it better by showing the 'new arrivals' the way to integration and success. That's in everybody's interest.

[jzwinck]

> Another reason why Chinese love coming here is to take advantage of government benefits, particularly with regard to medical care.

As an American living in Asia this is horrifying. How did you discover this group of Chinese people who were so successful that they have to hide their assets, yet so stupid that they seek public health care in one of the only first world countries which does not adequately provide it.

[thrwy_01]

I have some family members who are going through the immigration process, and they and I have talked to many others who have gone through the same; acquaintances, coworkers, friends. I was saddened the first time I heard these stories. After hearing them a dozen times I was horrified. It really shattered my illusions that people who should ostensibly have a similar perspective to me could be so radically different. One part of me hates to share these stories as there are many people in this country who would look at me and associate me with them by dint of the obvious ethnic similarity. But I think it does my fellow citizens a great disservice not to be informed.