china meets the border

the chinese first came to el paso to work on the southern pacific railroad, which was finished in 1881.  a lot of them stayed after it was over and set up groceries, laundries, and restaurants.  chinatown was between oregon street, and even had their own mayor and baseball team.  things got tough for the chinese after the chinese exclusion act, which passed in 1882, prohibiting chinese immigrants from entering the states.  after that, el paso became a major point for illegal chinese immigrants.  because mexicans could cross the border for free, a lot of the chinese would ditch their braids and slippers for some jeans.  they even learned to say, 'yo soy mexicano.'  i wonder how many chinese are here now?