Blog

By Victoria Lin

In 2018, I was a legal assistant in Toronto, and my very first asylum case was with a Manchurian woman from northern China. She was working in the lobster industry in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia with the promise of $11,000 a year in wages. What she was not told was that the costs of travel and visas would be deducted from her wage, that she and her colleagues would have to pick wild dandelions in the field for meals, and that, if she quit, her family would be targeted by recruitment agencies in China. In Toronto, she was able to find work at a Chinese restaurant as she waited for her asylum application. But here, the average cost of a dish was under $10, and her tips were taken by her manager—yes, an illegal, but unfortunately common practice.

There is a direct connection between $10 manicures, $5 dumplings, and the Chinese railroad workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad. Less than 15 years after construction finished, the country they helped build banned them through the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. Then, over forty years later, the 1924 Asian Exclusion Act also restricted Japanese, Korean, and Filipino immigrants from entering and working in the country "to preserve the ideal of U.S. homogeneity” (i.e. preserve whiteness). 

Many of these laws were repealed over 50 years ago, but their century-long impact continues to hurt perceptions of Asian American industries and workers. Asian nail salon workers and restaurant workers have spoken out against the economic injustice of a market that exploits them and a consumer base that expects Asian foods and services to be more affordable. This idea stems from the 19th century Gold Rush in California. The prevailing view then was that an immigrant from China “could not become Americanized and were simultaneously racially inferior, backwards [and] savage” (HuffPost, 2017).

A quick Google search for “Cheap Eats New York Chinatown” yields over 20 million results, compared to “Cheap Eats New York Soho” with 6 million hits. This might have something to do with demographics, but it can also point to the inherent expectation that restaurants in “ethnic neighborhoods” are cheaper. Yet, newer wine bars and upscale brunch restaurants in ethnic enclaves often charge much higher prices than ethnic food restaurants. This typically leads to secondary displacement of residents who are priced out by the subsequent increasing rent and food prices that gentrifying businesses bring about.

Today, Asian workers in America, both immigrants and those born here, continue to labor in industries perceived to be more affordable and lower wage professions. In the nail salon industry, 80% of the workers are Asian, and the average cost of a manicure in New York is $13(New York Healthy Nail Salon Coalition Report, 2024). This affordability is due to Asian businesses accepting lower profit margins and workers enduring longer hours and hazardous working conditions, usually at the cost of their health. As a community advocate working for AALDEF, it broke my heart listening to stories of Nepalese nail technicians who experienced cervical cysts due to long work hours and lack of rest, and whose children were born with congenital conditions.

You might be wondering, how does this affect me as a consumer? Well, as it turns out, a lot. Lower standards for workers often translate to dangerous conditions for consumers in the short and long run whether you’re getting your nails done, ordering takeout, or getting care at a hospital. As individuals, we can support workers by urging legislators to pass laws, such as the Nail Salon Minimum Standards Council Act, that seek to achieve long-term sustainability of these industries and enforce labor practices. Volunteering or donating to organizations like NY Healthy Nail Salons Coalition that assist vulnerable immigrant workers can also make a difference.