Immigrants, sex, and donuts
Immigrants come to this country in droves. They start businesses and use a tax loophole, so they don’t have to pay taxes. They then invite their family members and friends here, they too start similar businesses, and they don’t pay taxes either!
This is something two American friends told me a number of months ago before dinner. They explained that these loopholes are how immigrants come from countries like India and Korea and now run most mid-range hotels and convenience stores, respectively.
Naturally, I was dumbfounded. I Googled their tax claim and discovered they were wrong. I politely added that I wish it was true since I’m an immigrant. I joked that I wanted to cash in on this*. They were both surprised but accepted my fact-checked revelation.
I explained that it made sense that an immigrant who comes to America and starts a successful business would invite their extended family. Naturally, they would support and mentor them to create similar businesses. This is what Irish laborers and Italian restauranteurs did in the early days of the US. Go back even further and it was the Spaniards and French who built great wealth from this Native American land.
I don’t expect the gentlemen were racist, they were simply ill-informed by rumors and misinformation. It’s easier to make the case when the people you refer to don’t look like you. Besides, I added, isn’t discovering loopholes to pay as little tax as possible the American way? Even that former president applauded such efforts, but I digress.
Sex & Donuts
Recently, I watched two documentaries on Hulu. I didn’t expect they would both leave me thinking a lot about immigrants... and sex and donuts.
The first film was Ask Dr. Ruth. I watched it because I was just speaking with my kids the other day about her. I told them how we (people growing up in the ’80s) learned all about sex from Dr. Ruth Westheimer (and Sue). I was curious about her story and decided to give the movie a try. I had no idea that Dr. Ruth had been a refugee who lost her parents during the holocaust. She ended up immigrating to the US in 1956.
The second film was The Donut King. The story of Ted Ngoy, also known as the “Donut King” who came to the United States as a penniless refugee from Cambodia in 1975.
Both Dr. Ruth and Ted Ngoy had horrific experiences that led in part to their relentless work ethic and passion for supporting others. Dr. Ruth literally taught thousands of Americans about sex, while Ngoy taught hundreds of Cambodian refugees how to open and run their own donut shops across the country. Both are heroes.
I had no idea that an estimated 80% of donut shops in the Los Angeles area are owned by Cambodian Americans. In Houston, Texas, the percentage is an even larger 90%.
This morning, on the way to school, I took my kids to our local donut shop and mentioned the movie to the cashier. She laughed and confirmed that she too was Cambodian!
I realize immigration is a complex topic that’s far beyond my scope. But I encourage you to watch both of these excellent films and use the web to fact-check when you hear outlandish statements.
And in case you’re wondering, here are the top 25 US companies run by immigrants.
Tesla
Google
eBay
PayPal
Nordstrom
BNY Mellon
Kohl’s
Cognizant
LinkedIn
Big Lots
DuPont
Pfizer
Yahoo
Soros Fund Management
Kraft Heinz
Goldman Sachs
General Electric
Comcast
Emerson
Capital One
Procter & Gamble
WellCare Health Plans
Honeywell International
Colgate
Thermo Fisher Scientific
*This immigrant always pays his taxes in full.