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The lonely, illegal world of 'Mr. Cheng'

Like thousands of others, he wants to work. But he has to hide under Immigration's radar.

By JULIE SHAW
Philadelphia Daily News

shawj@phillynews.com 215-854-2592

AT 4:15 A.M., "Mr. Cheng" gets a call on his cell phone, signaling him to head outside to the light-blue van that will take him and other illegal workers to a mail-packaging factory in Montgomery County, to jobs that pay just above the minimum wage.

It's dark and quiet on the streets of South Philly as the van drives around, picking up other workers, who greet each other in Indonesian. Cheng is ethnically Chinese, but was born in Indonesia and lived there until he came to the United States about eight years ago.

"I was dreaming of a better life," he says, when asked why he came here - and stayed.

Cheng (not his real name) is one of the estimated 103,000 illegal immigrants living in Philadelphia and its four suburban counties - who often live in the shadows, working low-paid jobs, with the fear of deportation as they try to make a way for themselves here.

This is his story - an inside glimpse into how one illegal immigrant has been surviving in the city.

In some ways, Cheng's life rings with a sense of normalcy - he works five, sometimes six, days a week, has learned to navigate parts of the city, has friends among the immigrant population and likes reading news and surfing the Internet.

In other ways, his life is anything but normal.

In the past six years, he's had about 15 jobs, lived in about 10 places, has been laid off numerous times and has no medical insurance. Daily, he fears that he will be discovered and deported. He has not seen his wife and daughter since 2002, when he left Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, and has no idea when he will.

Sitting in the kitchen of a South Philadelphia rowhouse that he shares with three other adults - all illegal immigrants - Cheng, 44, recently explained how he makes it.

He lives comfortably because he lives simply. His latest job, in the beauty-supply industry, pays his $230-per-month rent, which includes utilities. He has a room in the basement and shares the kitchen and the living room, sparsely furnished with a worn brown rug and no sofa.

His bedroom, with its 6-foot-high ceiling, is a small space with a narrow, frosted-glass window that looks out onto the concrete side of another house, and has just enough room for a twin bed, a desk, two chairs and a clothes rack.

He stores clothes in plastic bins that he found on the sidewalk - someone else's garbage.

"The Americans, when they buy things, they don't keep them very long," he said, in one of a series of interviews over the past couple of years. "So many things we can use from the street. I thought, why not? We still can use them."

He keeps cards with inspiring sayings and posts them in his room. One, which arrived in a piece of junk mail, quotes Aesop: "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."

South Philadelphia and the Point Breeze neighborhoods have grown to accommodate their bustling immigrant population. Indonesian grocery stores and restaurants have sprouted up, serving beef stew, chicken satay and spicy tofu.

Temporary-employment agencies - serving as middlemen - help immigrants obtain jobs in factories and warehouses.

St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church offers English-as-a-second-language classes and has Masses in Spanish, Vietnamese and Indonesian.

Stores catering to immigrants have set up wire-transfer services so that people like Cheng can send money back home. Cheng sends about $700 to $800 a month to his wife and daughter in Jakarta.

Cheng hasn't had any serious health problems. He has been able to get free checkups at a city health center. But this will change soon. The city's Board of Health in September approved a fee system, in which the uninsured will have to fork over anywhere from $5 to $20 a visit.

Pursuing a better life

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Comments

Posted 03:58 AM, 11/10/2009

HandNik

Illegal immigration adds 10 billion to the economy per year, but only removes 1 billion. It's a serious political problem, correct?

Posted 05:22 AM, 11/10/2009

bartstorm

The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Pennsylvanians Pennsylvania has a rapidly growing illegal alien population of about 140,000 persons, nearly tripling since 2000.1 Between 2000 and 2008, the state’s foreign-born population has grown by 34.5 percent while its native-born population has decreased by 0.1 percent. Similarly, public school enrollment of students who require special instruction in English has also soared, rising by 187 percent from 1993 to 2006. Pennsylvania’s illegal alien population represents a major burden on the state’s taxpayers and on the state budget. The costs imposed on law-abiding Pennsylvanians are unfair and unwelcome even in the best of times, but are especially burdensome at a time when the state ended the 2008-09 Fiscal Year with a $3.25 billion revenue deficit which has led to a proposed three-year temporary increase of one-half percent in the state’s personal income tax. In 2008, the foreign-born population in Pennsylvania represented nearly one in every 18 residents (5.5%), and illegal aliens constitute about one-third (34%) of that immigrant population. Pennsylvania’s illegal immigrant population costs the state’s taxpayers about $728 million per year for education, medical care and incarceration. The annual fiscal burden amounts to about $150 per Pennsylvania household headed by a native-born resident.

Posted 06:02 AM, 11/10/2009

youpeoplehaveissues

Somebody catch this fool and ship him, as Harry the k would say, "outta here." Free medical care and the money he makes he ships back to Indonesia. Tell me how this in any way helps our city or our country>

Posted 07:17 AM, 11/10/2009

crqvindee

The fact that no taxes are paid on the earnings should make the employing company a nice target for the IRS, Phila wage tax and Penna. income tax collectors furious. How come no "go gitem" mentality? Oh, sorry that's only for hard working citizens, right? But these people would end up collecting Social Security or similar benefits without contributions. Wonderful country full of suckers - er, nice people in D.C., I mean.

Posted 07:32 AM, 11/10/2009

mcget

Well -- who is employing him? Who needs that junk mail so bad, but won't pay a decent wage to get those envelopes stuffed? There are a few good clean American natives getting rich off this guy. --mcget

Posted 07:35 AM, 11/10/2009

riogrande1

WHAT IS AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT? WHITE PEOPLE INVADED AMERICA , THEY MASSACRED THE INDIANS STOLED THEIR LAND AND PLACED THEM ON RESERVATIONS...WHITE PEOPLE FORGET THAT THIS IS NOT THEIR LAND..THEY STOLED IT FROM MY PEOPLE "THE INDIANS" READ YOUR HISTORY BROTHERS?

Posted 07:48 AM, 11/10/2009

riogrande1

THE MAJORITY OF WHITE PEOPLE IN THE USA ARE IMMIGRANTS..JUST READ YOUR HISTORY...WHITE PEOPLE INVADED AMERICA ILLEGALLY, THEY MASSACRED THE INDIANS AND PLACED THEM ON RESERVATIONS...REMEMBER WOONDED KNEE? DON BE SO F....HIPROCRITS!

Posted 07:59 AM, 11/10/2009

mokey1057

riograde1 - stole your land. Wounded Knee. Don't be so hypocritical. poor whitie, always blamed for everything. not isn't an American being employed in these positions, we Americans are also paying for him to have FREE check-ups at a city clinic. He is not paying taxes and he is sending his money OVERSEAS. Please riogrande1, get over yourself.

Posted 08:04 AM, 11/10/2009

sulaco83

It's sad that this guy has had such a tough life but it doesn't change the fact that he is breaking the law. People like him and the businesses that employ him are a drag on the citizens of this country and need to be dealt with. I have no problem with immigration but there are rules that must be followed.

Posted 08:27 AM, 11/10/2009

Poge Mahone

riograde1- Don't paint with such a broad stroke. When my great grandmother came here, legally I might add she was met with signs that said "No Blacks, dogs or Irish." Not everyone who came to this country was trying to off an Indian, they were just trying to survive and get by.

Posted 08:34 AM, 11/10/2009

Big5fan

Aliens don't pay taxes. We do! Every public or government service aliens are reaping on the backs of others.

Posted 08:37 AM, 11/10/2009

rfs72477

Authorities are wasting their time trying to take down the workers. The employers should be punished.

Posted 09:07 AM, 11/10/2009

jackpaul

riogrande1- no argument there. Fact is fact. My ancestors were DRAGGED here kicking and screaming. Go figure. But you know what THEY say.....get over it. Wonder if they would feel the same way if the shoe was on the other foot? Hmmmmm.

Posted 09:07 AM, 11/10/2009

Hulk

Illegal means illegal. These people do not get my sympathy. Let them go through the process of becoming legal then we'll talk. What is happening in this country? It's become the bizzaro world!

Posted 09:16 AM, 11/10/2009

Delco Tom

Here is the issue...you have what appear to be large small businesses, who pay, as a business, a significant amount of local tax to the town and county in which they operate. I would not be surprised if they were also significant contributors to local politicians who oblige the largesse by encouraging local authorities to ignore the hiring situation.