John Marco, along with his two younger brothers and mother, moved themselves from a small town in the Philippines to Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2013. Their father had fallen victim to human trafficking after being tricked into a fraudulent job opportunity across seas as an entertainer/performer. Fortunately, he did find refuge in the City of Angels and was reunited with his family shortly after obtaining permanent residency—though this did not come without a cost. The family, in search of economic prosperity and unity, had to leave behind everyone and everything they knew, which is no easy task with such an extensive, Filipino family. The historical context as well as the apparent push factors of the Philippines paired with the pull factors of the United States in the 21st century may help explain the ultimate decision to move their family from their home country to America. In the Philippines, John’s family had suffered both economically and socially as they faced poverty/unemployment, corruption, and crime. They looked towards the United States for its more favorable economic, social, and political conditions; the more developed country had opportunity for greater wealth, better policing, and political stability.
In his paper, “Why is Unemployment High in the Philippines,” Ray Brooks suggests that the reason for sustained/rising unemployment levels in the Philippines can be traced to a lack of “comprehensive policy…focused on macroeconomic stability, structural reform, poverty reduction, and better governance.” In the year of 1983, the Philippines encountered many economic challenges only months after they had seemed to be on the road to recovery from an extremely deep depression. The nation’s external debt was approximately $30 billion, industrial production experienced a noticeable fall—resulting in a significant amount of layoffs the following year, inflation was predicted to increase exponentially, and they faced a liquidity crisis. This was partnered with the supposed mismanagement of the country under the leadership of Ferdinand Marcos. “Marcos placed the Philippines under martial law on September 23, 1972, during which he revamped the constitution, silenced the media, and used violence and oppression against the political opposition, Muslims, communist rebels, and ordinary citizens.” Such leadership is what Brooks claims to be contributing to the ongoing economic and political deterioration of the country. In other words, the economic conditions of the ‘80s, along with the Asian economic crisis in 1997, have followed the Philippines into the 21st century and have not drastically changed due lack of political stability, making it harder to work towards better employment rates and ultimately modernization.
While the economic situation of the Philippines can be attributed to the past century, a more recent imposition of challenges worth noting can be attributed to the global economic crisis of 2008 which pulled the Philippines into further recession. This then takes us over to the United States where the issue originated with the bursting of the “subprime bubble”—which eventually led to the development of one of the worst international financial crises since the 1930s. Though, despite this, the U.S. remains to been seen as an economic powerhouse, especially in regards to GDP and employment. In the book, “Employment ‘Miracles’,” Cathie Martin argues that the American economy has historically been a source of “adulation and envy.” The success of the United States even “prompted recommendations to languishing European economies regarding the adoption of flexible work regulations, social benefits systems more conducive to job-seeking, and tax incentives for corporate investment.” This is in opposition to the Philippines who lacked policy and regulation worth appreciating or adopting. And for the sake of explaining John’s immigration story, it would be more useful to explain the historical reputation of the U.S. that caused their family to perceive the United States in such an elevated manner. This can be traced back to 1946 when the United States began to establish diplomatic relations with the country and recognized them as an independent state. Since then, the U.S. has provided a significant amount of assistance, which the Department of State claims “fosters broad-based economic growth; improves the health and education of Filipinos; promotes peace and security; advances democratic values, good governance, and human rights; and strengthens regional and global partnerships.” This is evident in the hundreds of millions of dollars the United States has invested in regards to relief efforts, goods and services, etc., to which the people are well aware of. A statement from John reads, “The economic presence of the United States is very evident and felt in the Philippines which only supports our belief that they are more developed than us and therefore have more job opportunities than we do.”
The historical context of the economic push and pull factors helps explain the reasoning behind John’s immigration story. However, the economic pull, or greater opportunity for wealth and employment in the United States, only lead to the reproduction of class structure that was found in the Philippines. John had been apart of a culture of poverty that transcended generations and kept his family from finding better employment/pay and breaking out of such conditions. He attributed this mainly to lack of care or action by the government, but also the laziness of his people. This of course is one of the main reasons his family moved to the United States where they now inhabit Koreatown in Los Angeles, California. However, while significantly more developed than his small, Filipino town, Koreatown’s residents are also perpetually stuck in these poor economic conditions such as low wages and substandard housing. This issue and recreation of class structure is comparable to the one explained in “American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass” by Massey and Denton who argue black poverty is maintained by the white population and their ongoing institutional arrangements/contemporary individual actions. The concentration of illegal immigrants and minorities of lower classes, such as Latinos and Filipinos, in Koreatown is similar to the disproportionate concentration of blacks in closed urban communities described in their work. And like Massey and Denton claim, this residential segregation concentrates problems like unemployment, lack of education, crime, and illegitimately. So in an attempt to escape a system that perpetuates their impoverishment, John and his family simply integrated into a similar system. In other words, while quite unfortunate, it seems the work of Massey and Denton is extremely applicable to John’s story in its perpetuation of poverty by ongoing institutions.
Apart from the economic/class aspect of immigration, another set of push and pull factors is worth noting, which is one of social and political categorization—with the Philippines facing severe corruption/crime and the United States opposing that with its political stability and superior policing. In a recent human trafficking report from the United Nations, there is discussion of government collusion/corruption in the Philippines. “As in any other country, there are reports that certain government officials fall prey to bribes and collude with syndicates. According to government experts, there are reports that smuggling and trafficking syndicates pay off vulnerable consular officers of the different embassies for the issuance of genuine entry visas. Syndicates also pay off vulnerable immigration, customs and police officers to facilitate victims’ departure from their country of origin and entry into the country of destination.” How is this possible? Such corruption and controversy is made possible through the primitive Padrino system which is the Filipino system where one gains power through friendship or family affiliation as opposed to merit. As discussed earlier, this gives way to a long, infamous history of poor leadership under figures such as Ferdinand Marcos who served as President from 1965 to 1986 and the current President, Rodrigo Duterte, who, according to Forbes writer, Panos Mourdoukoutas, has managed to ruin the democratic process in the Philippines, but has failed to ruin the system that ruins and perpetuates corruption. And so, crime and other monstrosities such as human trafficking persist to this day through the enabling of deception and exploitation. Unfortunately, John’s father fell victim to human trafficking through such deception, making the political/social climate an inherent push factor.
In contrast to the political corruption and crime in the Philippines, there is the United States whose history, government, and policy tackles and confronts such issues. This can be seen in Anthony DeStefano’s work, “The War on Human Trafficking: U.S. Policy Assessed,” where he not only recites the horrors faced by trafficking victims, but also appraises U.S. policy and its direction. “Clearly the United States has been at the forefront in addressing the trafficking issue and putting it on the international agenda as both a human rights issue and a law enforcement priority. A combination of legislative initiative, diplomatic jawboning, and the related work of human rights advocates and NGOs has forced government organizations and private businesses to confront the uncomfortable reality that their operatives and employees have sometimes been responsible for the plight of trafficked persons.” For instance, DeStefano mentions the steps taken by the Department of Defense in 2004 to prevent military personnel from obtaining the services of prostitutes and trafficked persons. Furthermore, he puts emphasis on the overlooked aspects of U.S. policy, such as prosecution and prevention. “Keeping up law enforcement pressure on traffickers, both domestically and internationally, has actively deterred criminal entrepreneurs and at the very least raises the risks and costs of doing business.” This sentiment has been maintained by all of our country’s leaders since the implementation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 signed by President Clinton, making the leadership and political climate of the United States a major pull factor in John’s immigration story.
Much like the historical context of the economic push and pull factors, that of the social/ political push and pull factors helps explain the reasoning behind John’s immigration story. However, instead of recreating class structure, the search for political stability in the United States contests class structure. When considering this contestation, it would be useful to look at Takai’s “Searching for Gold Mountain.” In the Philippines, John’s family was considered lower class which subjected them to the oppression of the government who essentially allowed for the commodified of people. Officials were paid off by fake agencies who would exploit their willingness to do cheap work and poor governmental policy, or lack thereof, enabled this—a feat comparable to they way in which Americans took advantage of the Chinese. The Chinese were exploited and the construction of “otherness” by white people kept the lower, immigrant class oppressed. This was enforced through governmental policy such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Ironically, Chinese workers were pretty desirable, though they were not permanently wanted as they were threats to racial impurity—this attitude gave way to an attempt to create a “permanently degraded caste system.” This class/racial oppression by the American government in the 19th century is comparable to the class oppression experienced by the impoverished in the Philippines. However, the Filipino and historical American structure is contested in John’s movement to the modern United States in that the lower class, in fact everyone, receives protection and liberation under governmental policy as discussed earlier.
In summation, John’s immigration to the United States resulted in both the contestation and recreation of class structure. However, the decision to move has been justified by the historical context of the push factors of the Philippines and pull factors of the United States. In the Philippines, John’s family had suffered both economically and socially as they faced a long history of poverty/unemployment, corruption, and crime. They looked towards the United States for its more historically favorable economic, social, and political conditions; the more developed country had opportunity for greater wealth, better policing, and political stability.