Corporate “Citizen”
Ian S. Davis
Webster University

Abstract

A small, but observable amount of undocumented immigrants come from Asian countries, primarily south and eastern Asian countries. Pew statisticians place that number at approximately four percent (475,000) of the undocumented population (Batalova, Terrazas, 2010).
According to Tony Choi, a South Korean illegal immigrant who has been in the United States since he was 8, “Many Asians consider schooling, and life in general, in the West as superior to that in their home countries. Moving to the United States, particularly in pursuit of better education, can be part of an upward strategy for many South Koreans who later become unauthorized immigrants” (Lim 2013). Choi and his family came to the United States during the financial crisis of 1997 due to his father’s failed business.
Often documented immigrants come for educational purposes but do not understand the visa program, and apply for a tourist visa which runs out very quickly. They end up staying ignorantly beyond their authorized time in pursuit of a better education and employment opportunities.
One of the largely overlooked aspects of the North American Free Trade Agreement is how the trade pact catapulted illegal immigrants over the borders in record numbers.
A flood of highly subsidized corn inundating the Mexican market has exiled millions of rural farmers. Prior to the enactment of NAFTA, Mexican bureaucrats claimed that manufacturing jobs would fill the void left by vanishing jobs on family farms.
The Mexican President, Carlos Salinas, assured the citizens of his nation that NAFTA would result in the “export of goods, not people.” (UC Davis, 2000). However, that is a very distant reality. Since NAFTA was signed, illegal immigrants in the U.S. has ballooned to an estimated 12 million from 3.9 million in 1993. Accounting for a total