Finding An Anchor For A Life Set Adrift By A Shipwreck
In 1993, a freighter ran aground off Queens, N.Y. The Golden Venture had nearly 300 people on it who were being smuggled into the U.S. from China.
Passengers cited China's forced-sterilization program and governmental persecution from political expression as reasons to climb aboard the Golden Venture. Some paid the smugglers $30,000 to board the ship. An organized crime syndicate would front the money, and the passengers would have to work off the debt, often in restaurants like indentured servants.
Some people jumped from the ship, trying to swim ashore. Ten people drowned, while about 200 people were treated for exhaustion and exposure. Shengqiao Chen was among 110 people smuggled in the ship who were detained in U.S. prisons while they waited for political asylum.
'This Is United States'
"After three months, we finally see the land," 38-year-old Chen told Zehao Zhou during a recent visit to StoryCorps in Philadelphia. "They told us, 'This is United States.' "
The two men met while Chen was in prison. Zhou, an academic librarian at York College in Pennsylvania, was his translator. At StoryCorps, Zhou asked Chen how long he swam that day.
"You can't really swim. The waves move you back, and I passed out," Chen said. "And then a couple of my friends carried me out of the water.
"When I woke up, I was in the hospital," Chen said. "I had my hand handcuffed on the bed."
Shrines And Letters
Chen was sent to a detention center in Pennsylvania.
"I think the most difficult time is after six months, and you don't know what your future is going to be," he said.
Chen's mother thought he was dead and had set up a family shrine for him.
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