COMING TO AMERICA

• WANG DONG DESCRIBES HOW HE WAS SMUGGLED TO AMERICA. AND MORE.

DATE: SPRING 1994

PLACE: A DOCK IN FUZHOU. CHINA

The sky begins to lighten with the coming of dawn, and a thick blanket of fog covers the waterfront. Finally, out of the gray, a man appears. He is a snake head.

Mr. Wang and his best friend, Buddy Pan, join twenty other young people who crowd into a small speedboat that races out to sea. A mile or so out, they are transferred to a larger ship carrying about two hundred young people. The boys are sent to dormitory-style bunks in the lower level of the ship. The girls, many fewer in number, are given rooms upstairs.

Wang and his friend are following the footsteps of generation upon generation of Fujianese seafarers who, since the time of the Qin dynasty, have immigrated to such far-off lands as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

In the beginning Mr. Wang is seasick. He says, “I was so dizzy. I ate a little and went to sleep. Then I got used to it. I’d play cards or chess, hang around, and talk about funny things.”

Also on the boat are Sonny Chen and his cousin’s wife, Jane Ding. Mr. Wang is assigned to a bunk next to Sonny. “Being together for so long a period of time, naturally we got to know each other,” Mr. Wang says. Along with Mr. Wang’s friend, Buddy Pan, and another man, a skinny kid called Stick, they form a clique and take their meals together.

A street in China similar to the neighborhood in which Mr. Wang grew up.

“We listened to the snake head. He arranged our meals. He gave us weather reports. He took care of arguments. He maintained the order and safety of the ship.”

Long, dull days become boring, uneventful months as the ship zigzags across the Pacific, dodging government ships and luxury liners. At last, day seventy-two to be exact, Mr. Wang looks out at the never-ending seascape. Far, far off in the horizon he sees something new: land. Quickly he finds his friends to tell them.

In no time the fivesome bundle their meager possessions into their backpacks and line up with the others. As at the beginning of their voyage, they are transferred to smaller boats. These take them to a place called Mexico.

The group of about two hundred young people arrives safely and is divided into two teams. Mr. Wang says, “The second team wasn’t that healthy or they were female. The snake head transferred us by car to a safe house, where we were fed a meal and took showers, our first hot showers. I was in the stronger physical team, the first team.” Although she is female, Jane Ding opts to stay with her buddies in the first team. Mr. Wang, Buddy, Sonny, Stick, and Jane begin a long trek over a mountain to their destination. “After climbing the mountain I was in the U.S.A.”

After the snake head makes a phone call, a new man arrives in a van to drive them to another safe house in Los Angeles. “The houses were very pretty. It seems to me it was a high-class place. Actually, where that place was, I have no idea.”

Later, yet another snake head arrives and drives them to the Los Angeles airport. “The person who represented us bought our air tickets and then showed us how to get on the plane. When we arrived, new snake heads met us and took us to a new safe house somewhere in New York State.

“We were in this place where all the windows were covered by cloth. Day and night there were two people watching us. They would not permit any of us to have freedom of movement. When it was time to eat, we were called to have our meal. Afterwards, we were told to stay on the floor where our beds were.”

Mr. Wang and his fellow captives remain at the safe house until their families back in China pay the smuggler’s fee. Wang says, “It made sense to hold us there.” The smugglers want money; they are not doing this for charity. “The first day after I got there, the snake head gave me a telephone to call my sister.” Wang’s family quickly pulled together their life savings and borrowed extra from friends to pay the smuggler’s fee. “Approximately two days later I made another call to my family, who said that the money was ready.” Mr. Wang’s fee is $26,000.

Mr. Wang’s friends are not as lucky. They remain in the safe house longer, while their families hustle to come up with the cash. They comment to one another that Mr. Wang must come from a rich family.

Meanwhile, Mr. Wang is driven to a restaurant in New York City’s Chinatown where his niece is waiting for him. He is free.

“My niece owns a restaurant in another city. I lived with her and her boyfriend and some employees. I worked there for one year. I had a debt to pay. I owed my family $26,000. I paid back the full amount. I worked so hard and gradually saved from my job.”

ONE YEAR LATER: JULY 1995

“Do you know who I am?” Jane Ding asks her friend from the smuggler’s ship. Mr. Wang, who is still working in his niece’s restaurant, is not sure who is on the telephone.

“It is Jane Ding,” she says with a nervous laugh, trying her best to sound casual.

“How did you get my number?” he asks, surprised but not unhappy.

“Your friend Buddy gave it to me.” Jane wants to see her traveling companion again. Perhaps they can meet on his day off? Mr. Wang is delighted.

They arrange to have tea in New York City the following Sunday. On the Friday before their reunion, she calls again, just to be sure he is coming.

“Of course. I’ll come at eight A.M.” Though a bit puzzled by the call, he goes back to work at the restaurant and never gives her inquiry a second thought.

On Sunday, when Mr. Wang goes to the bus station, he learns that there are no buses until noon. Since he does not have Jane’s telephone number, he waits at the station, hoping she does not give up and leave.

“When I arrived, she was waiting for me. When she saw me, she was quite happy to see me.” Jane asked why he was so late. He apologized and explained the mixup.

Mr. Wang and Jane go to a small restaurant for a bite to eat. When they finish, Jane suggests a walk through Chinatown. They stroll a few blocks and find themselves in front of an apartment building. Without so much as an explanation, Jane takes out a key, opens the door, and invites him inside. “I walked in. She was right behind me.

“We went downstairs to an apartment. After I entered the room, I saw two persons sitting by the table.” Jane slams the door shut and runs into another room. “The two individuals were Sonny Chen, who came over with me, and someone I didn’t know.” Things began to happen. Fast. So fast he could hardly react.

“Sonny Chen tapped my shoulder and told me to go into another room. The other person came by my side. He had a knife. I was told to sit by the side of the bed. Then someone got handcuffs, and a red cloth was put over my eyes.”

DATE: MAY 1998

PLACE: THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

Leemie Kahng, ever tidy, scoops up a piece of crumpled paper from the floor as she walks briskly to her windowless office. “It may sound corny,” she tells me, “but I’m so proud of this office. I believe it stands for truth and justice.” Leemie’s family are an ideal example of the American dream that she talked about in her opening statement. They immigrated from Korea when Leemie was three. They worked hard, became successful, and sent their two daughters to fine schools. Leemie says, “For my parents to come here, and for me to be where I am, I think America is pretty great.”

Tossing the crumpled paper into a wastebasket, Leemie puts down her briefcase. We talk about the case she has just finished—a double kidnapping.

The families of Mr. Wang and another man, Mr. Li, paid big ransoms for the release of their sons. Now they wanted justice.

Leemie has heard this before. In recent years there has been a rash of kidnappings in Chinatown. Although the kidnappers are often caught, their cases rarely go to trial. More likely than not, the complaining witnesses, people like Mr. Wang and Mr. Li, never show up in court to testify.

Most victims do not know their legal rights. They do not speak English. They are afraid of retribution against either themselves or their families back in China. They are afraid they will be deported. And so they become no-shows. Without a victim’s testimony there is no case. She expected the same from these two men.

She was wrong.

Once Leemie realized that Mr. Wang would press charges, she knew she had a very big case on her hands. Her first big case. “I felt a heavy burden and a social responsibility to the Chinese community. I felt a responsibility to my victims and to their families. The whole thing was very nerve-racking.”