Hmmmm....I dunno, is $3/hour actually below minimum wage for a restaurant worker? I know it isn't for servers, but it may be for the kitchen help.
Regardless, this is totally unAmerican...and that's the point.
Posted on 06/22/2005 4:25:20 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
The owners of three Chinese restaurants were arrested today and charged with smuggling illegal Mexican immigrants to work for sub-minimum wage and live as virtual hostages in a dormitory. Members of the Phu family are accused of paying smugglers to bring the immigrants to Houston from Mexico, then requiring the workers to live in a dormitory style room at their house. The indictment said the workers, who were paid less than $3 an hour, were forbidden from leaving the house at will and had to spend their one day off each week cleaning their house and doing yard work. Hin Khai "Papa" Phu, 66, and his son, Alan Phu, 41, the owners of three Chinese Wok restaurants in the Houston area, as well as Kiu Tai "Mama" Phu, 64, and Lisa Phu, 35, are also accused of hiding the immigrants from authorities, according to an indictment unsealed today.
They appeared before U.S. Magistrate Stephen Smith, but none yet had attorneys. They remained in custody this afternoon pending Smith's ruling on whether they would be granted bond. Authorities launched the investigation in August 2001 when a child labor complaint against the Phus was filed with the U.S. Department of Labor in Houston. The complaint alleged a minor had worked about 60 hours a week at two of the Chinese Wok restaurants for a month and was paid a total of $125, a salary of less than 52 cents an hour. U.S. minimum wage is $5.15 an hour. The Phus allegedly paid the immigrants $2.78 per hour, less a smuggling fee, and hid them from authorities. Each worker earned about $400 in cash every two weeks for six 12-hour days a week.
Up to six smuggled workers at a time were allegedly kept in a room with three bunk beds in Alan and Lisa Phu's home next door to his parents. The indictment alleged the father and son also wouldn't allow workers to use a telephone. The indictment also accused the Phus of filing false reports with the Texas Workforce Commission that omitted the names of illegal workers. All four are charged with conspiracy and eight counts of harboring illegal immigrants for financial gain. Those charges alone carry a maximum penalty of 85 years in prison. Alan Phu and his father each are also charged with five counts of smuggling illegal immigrants for financial gain and five counts of inducing a foreign national to enter the United States illegally.
Seems to me someone in government didn't get his/her cut and things went down. That has to be the reason. Otherwise, they would raid these folks on a national scale because the government and many of US HERE know that this is going on EVERYWHERE!!!! I've posted about this VERY thing several times! Arrrggghhhh!!!!
The sun also rose in the east this morning.
Well I certainly hope this story has a happy ending.
Yeah, really.
And in other news ...
"Dog bites Postman"
"Pope remains Catholic"
"Bear caught taking dump in the woods"
Hmmmm....I dunno, is $3/hour actually below minimum wage for a restaurant worker? I know it isn't for servers, but it may be for the kitchen help.
Regardless, this is totally unAmerican...and that's the point.
One thing that is weird is that in New York, I am beginning to see tons of restaurants that serve Chinese and Mexican food together. Some of the restaurants don't even bother using much English -- the Chinese restaurants' names and menus are in Spanish!
Also, a lot of Mexicans and Latin Americans live in such cramped quarters that they can't use their kitchen, so they only eat at cheap Chinese restaurants. I read an article about this in the New York Times,
I like General Tso's chicken extra spicy.
The Chinese are quite well known for similar lapses in following labor laws, or laws in general.
Chinese Restaurants all around the world are also fronts for prostitution rings, where the waitresses are imported from Red China, knowing precisely why they are coming over. They earn anywhere from $2000-6000 dollars US a week, and send it home to help their families out.
I have actually suspected that the Chinese Government is somehow behind these criminal activities, as all of these activities have value as "intelligence" fronts for their spy masters.
I would have to agree with you on that theory.
In Manhattan, the Chinese own the Mexican restaurants, in the outer boroughs Mexicans own Mexican restaurants, in the suburbs, publicly traded corporations own Mexican restaurants.
For REAL Mexican food, take the 7 to Jackson Heights, or the R to Sunset Park.
I wonder about that too... Some parts of NY have so many damn Chinese restaurants it's hard to imagine how they would all survive if not as a money laundering operation or some kind of front. Some very mysterious places.
But then the same is true with Mexican/Columbian restaurants and Arab/Pakistani/Bangladeshi convenience stores.
I live in Queens, Astoria actually. One of the best Jackson Heights Mexican places opened a branch in Astoria. Tacos Mexico.
I eat there sometimes. But no matter how good, I'm not always so comfortable with Mexican food!
LOL We Chinese buffets up the wazoo down here. The workers look straight off of the Mainland
Not if you like cats!
Somebody should look into this.
Until then, please pass General Gao's Guacamole.
What America needs are more third world family values like this.
I've heard this, too, and the WSJ and other papers occasionally run stories on it. I wonder why now, maybe it's a post-911 phenomenon.
Man, I sound like a provincial old fart, even though I'm 29 and now live in Seattle (yeech).
The WSJ? Are you sure? Seems like they consider illegal immigrant slave labor a Competitive Advantage for America.
It all about the Benjamins.
Euro-peon values are nothing to write home about these days either.
You're right. You should start a thread.
Oh, my goodness. It's worse than I thought. They've run out of housepets.
One thing that is weird is that in New York, I am beginning to see tons of restaurants that serve Chinese and Mexican food together. Some of the restaurants don't even bother using much English -- the Chinese restaurants' names and menus are in Spanish!
Also, a lot of Mexicans and Latin Americans live in such cramped quarters that they can't use their kitchen, so they only eat at cheap Chinese restaurants. I read an article about this in the New York Times,
_____________________
Both cultures base a lot of their meals on rice. Rice and meat and chicken and vegetables.
No raids because the immigration department for the most part has been compromised by the illegal lobbyists. The INS puts out the message across America that only a few illegals must be exposed, thus the sucker citizens will think they're doing a great job.
Really? I've only had crap for Pizza here. Much better stuff in Manhattan and the Bronx.
Most of the Astoria Italians are long gone now. Moving in from Kansas? More like Egypt, Brazil, and Bangladesh!
Our govt., as well as govts. in Europe, have published reports on the incredible amount of espionage the chicoms are engaged in. We should be reading of roundups like this every week.
The only place I can remember in Astoria that still has a decent (square) slice is Rizzo's on Steinway, although it has gone downhill since an Egyptian family bought it a few years back. Same thing happened to L&B Spumoni Gardens on Avenue U in Brooklyn. We need more Italian pizza makers! Even if they have a Cugine overseeing the Mexicans is OK for me.
There are some great pizzerias in Manhattan, but few truly great by-the-slice places. Joe's on Bleecker on Demo Square is a rare exception these days.
I'm making myself hungry now. Weren't we originally talking about Chinese food and illegal aliens? Doesn't matter as I'm cooking for myself tonight.
Yeah, but I bet your landlord is Greek. They literally OWN Astoria and Bay Ridge (Brooklyn) even if they may live in Mansions in Whitestone now. ;-)
You're right about Egyptians owning pizza parlors here... I see that a lot, and it's usually a bad sign.
And how could you be wrong about my landlord? The funniest thing is that with the money they pull in, how sleazy and trashy they look and dress.
Now we know how to get the DOL interested in illegal aliens! Complain about child labor! But 4 years!?!
as long as they dont screw up my crab rangoon, all is cool. (and I want extra mustard packets to)
They are just frying the rice that no American wants to fry.
You may have a point there...only because of the child labor. And, taking four years! Good point. Arrggghhh!!!
Nah, ya think?
Slave labor was outlawed many years ago. It's back, and our government turns its ugly head the other way. We're paying a huge price in more ways than dollars.
You know, I don't remember now, for sure. It was a business publication, I read several of them at work (now mostly online), and WSJ was one of several, but they do seem to view illegal immigration that way. I don't know if that's a new turn or not, as sometimes they all blur together. It is all about the Benjamins. Period. Sadly.
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