Why so many Asians in Annandale? (Arlington, Centreville: middle-class, real estate, crime rates)

[FC Merrifield]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Yes, most refugees from Asia came in the '70s from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Obviously Koreans are not refugees unless there are some escaping from North Korea somehow and then coming here. Haven't heard of that. But the remainder of Asian first-generation immigrants are still mostly legal; the phenomenon of Chinese being found in shipping containers is fairly recent. It's simply harder to cross an ocean than it is a river. The vast majority of the Koreans and Chinese who came here did not have to worry about INS the way illegal immigrants did and do still.

Don't know if Annandale will become more Hispanic, unless we're talking about either low-income apartments or higher-income Hispanics in the SFH areas. Annandale is close in and has large lots. Some areas have good schools and some just OK schools. But prices there are higher than much of S. Arlington. Then again, a lot of S. Arlington is ugly with bad schools. I would probably choose A'dale or Sleepy Hollow over S. Arl too.

Huh? Maybe we're misunderstanding each other, but I was referring to your comment that "all the Asian groups came here legally, the vast majority as refugees."

I was just saying that neither of those statements are true. A very small portion of Asian groups came here as refugees and it's estimated that a large percentage are here illegally.

I can't disagree too much with people's opinions on the future demographic makeup of Annandale, but anecdotally, I just don't know of any Korean-Americans that want to move to Annandale. School systems are too important for families and younger Korean-Americans prefer the "hipness" of Arlington. This is a generalization, but new construction homes in good school districts are favored over the "charm" of older homes in closer suburbs. So those with enough money prefer Fairfax/Oakton, etc. while those with less money prefer Centreville, Chantilly, etc.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by FC Merrifield

Huh? Maybe we're misunderstanding each other, but I was referring to your comment that "all the Asian groups came here legally, the vast majority as refugees."

By and large almost all came here legally. Much harder to cross an ocean than a river. Illegal immigration from Asia is relatively recent and still comparatively rare.

In the '70s, most of the Asians who came here (and it was mostly from SE Asia then) did so as refugees.

[farplaner]

Originally Posted by FC Merrifield

A very small portion of Asian groups came here as refugees and it's estimated that a large percentage are here illegally.

I'm guessing you meant that a large percentage (of the refugees) came here illegally rather than Asian groups in general. It's confusing the way you wrote it. Just wanted to point that out

I don't know what percentage of Asian Americans came here as refugees, but I would guess that outside of the refugees, a vast majority of Asian Americans came here via legal immigration.

[mcleanexec]

This sounds like a South Park Episode. Same could be said for ______ ( for other minorities in DC area).

[FC Merrifield]

Sorry if my writing was sloppy. What I mean to say is:

1. Only a small portion of Asian immigrants are/were refugees. Most Asian immigrants are/were your standard non-refugee immigrants.
2. A large percentage of Asian immigrants came illegally (all refugees, if given refugee status, came legally by definition). I think this is where Carlingtonian and I would disagree the most. It's true that crossing an ocean is more difficult than crossing a river. But being an illegal immigrant does not necessarily correspond with having entered the country illegally. For example, many Asians came to the states legally with tourist or student visas and then never left once those expired. Generally, these cases garner less attention since as a country we're more welcoming towards those with higher levels of education, such as those that overstayed student visas.

I think the number/percentage of illegal Asian immigrants is lower than that of their Hispanic counterparts, but my general point was that it's inaccurate to say that all Asian groups came here legally. I think most sources put the number at more than one million.

[JeremiahZ]

Your question sounds prejudiced, man. Why can Annadale not have many Asians?

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by FC Merrifield

For example, many Asians came to the states legally with tourist or student visas and then never left once those expired. ... but my general point was that it's inaccurate to say that all Asian groups came here legally.

I never said every last Asian person in the US came here legally--but generally, each subgroup of Asian people in the US is largely composed of legal immigrants, and thus they are Asian Americans.

I have not heard that significant numbers of Asian students/temporary employees are violating their visa to stay here. That wouldn't make much sense. If you violate your visa, you're going to have a very hard time getting citizenship or even a green card. That might be OK if you only hope to do manual labor for a couple of years before returning home--but if you're here as a student and plan on starting a career and settling down here (or extending your education), it would be about the worst thing you could do. You cannot get hired without proof of citizenship, and although employers of factory workers or construction laborers may pretend to be convinced by realistic fake IDs, I doubt that employers in the professions would do so. I'm sure it has happened, but I can't imagine it's anything but rare.

[farplaner]

Wow, I'll definitely disagree that a *majority* of Asian immigrants came here illegally. I know a lot of family and friends, and friends of friends, and pretty much all of them came here legally. I've heard gossips of exactly what you guys are talking about (student visas violating their visa, etc), but they're very rare.

While I don't represent all of Asians, I really doubt that it is the case.

[FC Merrifield]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

I never said every last Asian person in the US came here legally--but generally, each subgroup of Asian people in the US is largely composed of legal immigrants, and thus they are Asian Americans.

I have not heard that significant numbers of Asian students/temporary employees are violating their visa to stay here. That wouldn't make much sense. If you violate your visa, you're going to have a very hard time getting citizenship or even a green card. That might be OK if you only hope to do manual labor for a couple of years before returning home--but if you're here as a student and plan on starting a career and settling down here (or extending your education), it would be about the worst thing you could do. You cannot get hired without proof of citizenship, and although employers of factory workers or construction laborers may pretend to be convinced by realistic fake IDs, I doubt that employers in the professions would do so. I'm sure it has happened, but I can't imagine it's anything but rare.

OK, I see. Earlier you had said that all Asian groups came here legally so I took that to mean "all." But if you mean that illegal immigration isn't as big of an issue as with Hispanics then yes, I agree with you. I think that over a million is a significant number, but I guess in the grand scheme of things, that could also be considered minor.

Re: overstaying visas. No, it's not popular, but it happens when visas are about to expire and they can't find a sponsor. I agree that it's probably not a large number, but it happens. If you combine this with the numbers overstaying tourist visas or temporary visas (which are often given for unskilled labor) then the numbers are significant. I think you would be surprised by the number of workers that are paid under the table by the many businesses owned by Koreans. The same applies to Chinese workers working for Chinese businesses. I'm not saying this to criticize them, but just pointing it out.

Tongyang, I'm not sure why you think that I said the *majority* of Asians came here illegally. If I said that, could you point me to it? Like you, I think that most came here legally, and everyone I know is in that category. But wouldn't you agree that the people you and I know are more likely the ones that came legally?

[bluegrey]

I think the million number is correct (Asians, here illegally), but that would include all of the middle-easterners, too. There are lots of East Asians in Annandale, because, it is centrally located and relatively affordable.... Same reasons anyone else would move there. They come individually, but will leave as a group, if there are negative things affecting their businesses. For any age/race, Annandale would be on a list of places to look (with Springfield), for a discriminating buyer, who wants an SFR, no HOA, and much better construction from the 60s. I got my haircut at the beauty academy, next to K-mart, a few years ago. Must have been a dozen nationalities present.