Smuggling of Immigrants
The Triads are also primarily responsible for smuggling illegal immigrants into the Chinatowns of Australia, Europe, and North America, often from China and Vietnam. These Asian smugglers are called "snakeheads". In order to pay for their passage, many of these immigrants end up indentured in "under the table" low-wage (often lower than the minimum wage) service jobs, e.g., as restaurant waiters or dishwashers, masseuses in massage parlors, prostitutes, and garment sweatshops.
Such social problems have been the subject for several Hollywood police films such as The Corruptor (set in New York City's Chinatown but filmed in Toronto's), starring Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat, and Year of the Dragon with Mickey Rourke.
Read more about this topic: Social Problems In Chinatown
Famous quotes containing the word immigrants:
“The admission of Oriental immigrants who cannot be amalgamated with our people has been made the subject either of prohibitory clauses in our treaties and statutes or of strict administrative regulations secured by diplomatic negotiations. I sincerely hope that we may continue to minimize the evils likely to arise from such immigration without unnecessary friction and by mutual concessions between self-respecting governments.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)