II d II

Southern and Northern and Canada Eastern Europe Western Europe

Other( including Africa)

18

_{PART в Texts}

_"AMERICA"

In the musicalWest Side Story — lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Leonard Bernstein — Puerto Ricans express their experiences as a minority in the U.S.A.

UNLIKE OTHER MUSICALS 'WEST SIDE STORY' GROWS YOUNGER:

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'BEST PICTURE'

Winner of 10 Academy Awards

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"WEST SIDE STORY;¹

in» * NATALIE WOOD . RICHARD ВЕУМЕВ ■ RUSS TAMBLYN • RITA MORENO ■ GEORGE CHAKIRIS

I like to be in America, Okay by me in America. Ev'rything free in America. For a small fee in America.

Buying on credit is so nice.

One look at us and they charge twice. I'd have my own washing-machine.

What will you have though to keep clean?

Skyscrapers bloom in America. Have a lot soon in America. Industry boom in America. Twelve in a room in America.

Lots of new housing with more space.

Lots of doors slamming in our face. I'll get a terraced apartment.

Better get rid of your accent!

Life can be bright in America —

If you can fight in America. Life is all right in America -

If you're white in America.

Here you are free and you have pride -Long as you stay on your own side.

Free to be anything you choose -Free to wipe tables and shine shoes.

Everywhere grime in America. Organized crime in America. Terrible time in America. You forget I'm in America.

/ think I'll go back to San Juan. I know a boat you can get on.

Everyone there will give big cheer! Everyone there will have moved here.

THE MAKING OF A NATION 19

©New York— A Melting Pot?.

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Хос/г, Edward: born 12.12.1924, mayor of the "City of New York from 1978 to 1989. He was succeeded by David Dinkins, the first black mayor of New York City.

20 AMERICA IN CLOSE-UP

ImmigrationToday: A Case Study

For those fleeing political, religious or racial repression, immigration to America can be a life-and-death matter. The United States formally recognizes this by allowing the persecuted to circumvent the normal system. They can apply either for asylum, if they are already here or at a port of entry, or refugee status, if they are outside the country. At least 120,000 Cambodians were accepted into the United States under this system by the early 1980s. But recently the number of refugees admitted to the United States has dropped sharply. Although each case is theoretically considered on its own merits, federal officials today keep a sharp eye out for those who seem to be "economic migrants" running from poverty, not persecution.

Former refugee Savuth Sath, 32, of Cambodia, expresses a somewhat cynical view of what it takes to succeed in America. "It's an acting exer­cise," he says. 'You need only to make yourself look as decent as you can, get to where you have to be on time, do what you're required to do, and you'll be fine." So then why do Sath and his wife, Mom Chhay, 25, hold down one part-time and two full-time jobs even as they serve as landlords in their multifamily house in Chelsea, Mass.? "Money is a necessary tool for real estate," says Sath. "I'm still working for a living now." Besides, "nothing's ever completely over. We could run out of food here next,"

A Cambodian immigrant working in the U.S.

from 3 p.m. till 11 p.m. or later at $8,05 an hour - and 50 percent more for overtime, Mom Chhay, mean­while, works a 45-hour week on the production line of a medical-diagnostic lab in Newton.

That leaves Sath with a few hours at home, and he is "looking for something to do." Sometimes he carves miniature wooden ox carts, replicas of the ones found m Cambodia, while watching game shows on TV. Often he peruses the real-estate ads. He bought his 80-year-old house for $107,000 and rents the upstairs apartment to another Cambodian family for $800 a month. He would like to increase his real-estate holdings, but he feels that each loan means giving back a piece of his newfound free­dom. "I'm almost free," he says. "When I pay off my loans I'll really be on my own."

From Newsweek magazine, July 14, 1986

Sath's penchant for security is easy to understand. One of five children of a poor Cambodian noodle vendor, he was separated from his family in 1975, when the Khmer Rouge drafted the young, un­married men and women of his country into forced-labor camps. For the next four years he lived surrounded by death and on the edge of starvation. "Boys and girls dried up like air," he says. "Girls especially would just lie down in the water to die." In 1979 he was reunited with one brother and a cousin, and the three made their way to a refugee camp in Thailand; there he met and married Mom Chhay. The two arrived in America, without luggage or money, in 1981. His first impression: the squirrels. "They play so close to the house. In my country we had millions of rats."

But Sath has little time today for reflecting on nature. His workday starts at noon, with a two-hour stint as a caseworker at the Jewish Vocational Training Center — one of several jobs counseling Cambodians he's held since arriving in the United States, Then he drives to a food-processing plant in Watertown, Mass., where he works as a supervisor

Khmer Rouge: red, or Communist, Cambodians, a militant force receiving military support from North Vietnam, opposing the right-wing nationalist regime of General Lon Nol.

THE MAKING OFANATION

21

A NEWSWEEK POLL ON IMMIGRATION

Americans surveyed byNewsweek were divided in their views on immigrants several proposals to stem a rising tide of illegal immigration into this country.

and on

I Do you think the number of immigrants now entering the U.S. from each of the following areas is too many, too few or about right?

Too Many 26%

53% 31% 49%

Too Few

11%

5%

12%

6%

About Right 50% 30% 37%

33%

European Countries Latin America African Countries Asian Countries

£. Do you feel that English only should be used in all public schools, public signs, govern­ment forms and official messages in the United States. Or do you support the use of a second language in some areas to help immigrants participate in education, business, public affairs and daily life?

English Only47% Second Language 49%

ОSome people say the government should make it much more difficult for illegal aliens to get work in the U.S. by penalizing companies that knowingly hire them. Others oppose such a penalty because it would restrict U.S. businesses too much and limit opportunities for legal immigrants — especially Hispanics. Which view comes close to your own?

Penalize Companies 61% Oppose Penalties 28%

4-Some people propose that the federal government issue identity cards to all citizens and legal immigrants to distinguish them from those who are in the country illegally. Others oppose this plan on the grounds that it would give the federal government too much knowledge and control over all Americans. Which view comes closest to your own? Issue ID Card 42% Oppose ID Card 52%

ОSome people say there are too many illegal immigrants living in this country for the authorities to arrest and deport them; they feel we should have an amnesty to let most of these aliens live here legally. Others say the government should do everything it can to arrest those living in this country illegally. Which comes closer to your view? Amnesty for Those Here 34% Arrest and Deport 55%

О Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Immigrants take jobs from U.S. workers.

Many immigrants work hard — often taking jobs that

Americans don't want.

Many immigrants wind up on welfare and raise taxes for Americans

Immigrants help improve our culture with their different cultures and talents.

Agree	Disagree
61%	36%
80%	17%
59%	33%
61%	35%

For this NEWSWEEK Poll. The Gallup Organization interviewed 751 adults by telephone on June 1, 2 and 3. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. 'Don't knows' not shown. The NEWSWEEK Poll @ 7984 by NEWSWEEK Inc.

FromNewsweek magazine, June 25, 1984

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