Korean prostitutes in Alabama

By Chang Se-moon

Foley, Ala., is a small town with about 17,000 residents of whom less than 1 percent are Asians and Asian Americans. It is a city that everyone has to go through if they want to go to the beautiful Gulf Shores resort area on the Gulf of Mexico.

To my surprise, there was an article in the October 12, 2015 issue of the weekly Lagniappe in south Alabama, titled “Foley Police arrest two in prostitution sting.” I would not have paid attention to the article if there were no pictures of the two women who were clearly Asian.

The newspaper reports that “Foley Police made two arrests on Friday related to a year-long investigation into prostitution at the Rainbow Spa and Massage location at 8220 on Alabama 59 in Foley.” The article then printed two names. I will not print their names here other than to report that their last names were both Kim. Both were arrested and charged with a single misdemeanor count of prostitution. The article further reports that “Both possessed Illinois driver's licenses and are originally from Korea. Both are also currently residing in the United States on expired visas.”

Actually, it was not the first time that Korean women were arrested for prostitution. On August 7 of this year, the Mobile County (Alabama) Sheriff's Office arrested five women in a prostitution sting at Ocean Sauna Spa in Mobile, about 50 miles north of Foley. The search warrants were executed at two different places in Mobile: Ocean Sauna Spa and Win Spa. The names of the five women sounded very much like Korean names.

If women from Korea work at places where few if any Koreans reside, it should be safe to assume that there are many places in the U.S. where women from Korea work as prostitutes.

It is easy to blame them for working as prostitutes with expired visas, making the name of Korea shameful. Actually, I do not look at it that way. I look at them with much more sympathy.

I simply do not believe that their current profession was what they wanted to pursue. I truly believe that each of the women from Korea who work as prostitutes in the U.S. has a long story that left no alternative than to work as a prostitute in a country where they can barely, if at all, communicate. I do not want to hear their stories, mainly because there is nothing I can do for them personally. I can, however, make some recommendations to Korean consulates scattered throughout the United States.

I think the Korean consulates should attempt to contact each of these women and provide assistance, while making sure that their contact is not to force them to go back to Korea, but to help them to remain in the U.S. and achieve self-sufficiency.

If these women have green cards, they have a legal right to work. To minimize language barriers that may keep them from finding gainful employment, Korean consulates should work closely with local Korean associations and the many Korean churches scattered all over the country. Since the employment opportunities available to these women are mostly unskilled, there should not be any problem for them to find work.

If these women do not have green cards, but only have expired visas, they are illegal immigrants. We should never ask them to go back to Korea where they may be treated even worse than they are being treated in the U.S.

The idea is to help them so that they do not commit a crime that may allow the U.S. immigration office to deport these women to Korea. In addition to providing them opportunities to improve their language skills, which can be done again in cooperation with local Korean associations and the many Korean churches, it may be important to let them know that there are many sanctuary cities, especially in California, where they can stay and work without having to worry about being caught and deported.

Due to the large number of Hispanic illegal immigrants, the U.S. government will give opportunities for illegal immigrants to become legal immigrants so long as they do not commit serious crimes. These opportunities may come within the next five years.

I know that Korean women working as prostitutes in the U.S. can easily be labeled as low-class, dirty, useless human beings. This is completely wrong and an inhumane approach. If we pay attention to these women with compassion, there are ways to help them. I truly believe that regional Korea consulates should start the process of helping them. I simply do not believe that local Korea associations and Korean churches can or will do much to help these women. The process of helping them should begin as soon as possible.

Chang Se-moon is the director of the Gulf Coast Center for Impact Studies.