A Tuesday report which detailed alleged culture clashes between local workers and those from Taiwan at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) facilities in Arizona reveals some workers from Taiwan, who relocated to Arizona to build the plants, will seek to start or expand families so their children reap the benefits of U.S. citizenship.
The Rest of World report described TSMC’s ventures in Arizona as a “debacle,” with American engineers subjected to intense scrutiny, public humiliation and restricted communications while being trained by TSMC in Taiwan.
Conversely, the workers from Taiwan were reportedly unconvinced their American counterparts held “the kind of dedication and obedience they believe to be the foundation” of TSMC’s success, bolstering one semiconductor industry analyst’s claim to the outlet that TSMC “tried to make Arizona Taiwanese” without success.
While the company’s executives apparently tried to export the Taiwanese style of management to the United States, the report confirmed at least some TSMC workers who relocated from Taiwan to Arizona have other priorities.
Explaining that many Taiwanese workers, who make up about half the company’s labor in Arizona, planned for “extended stays” in the United States, the outlet reported a TSMC engineer stated, “If we are going to have children, of course we will have them here.”
The engineer reportedly explained, “As an American citizen, they will have more options than others.”
Also referenced by Rest of World is a 2022 report by BBC China which revealed that some engineers and villagers from Taiwan were willing to cut their salaries for the opportunity to have children who would be granted U.S. citizenship while working in Arizona.
“My goal is very clear. I went to the United States just to have children,” one engineer reportedly told the outlet, according to a translation. Explaining his decision, the engineer cited fears Taiwan could eventually be forced to join the communist People’s Republic of China.
Arizona unions previously urged the Biden administration to take action due to the number of workers from Taiwan who used to construct the facilities after TSMC argued that the state lacked skilled labor. Labor leaders and TSMC eventually struck a deal to limit the use of foreign workers.
The reelection campaign of President Joe Biden previously highlighted Arizona’s new semiconductor factories as examples of his administration’s work to help Arizona workers in a campaign advertisement, and the Biden administration confirmed a $6.6 billion deal with the Taiwanese semiconductor giant to build a third plant in the state on April 8.
Former President Donald Trump previously vowed to sign an executive order to end birthright citizenship in a bid to discourage illegal immigration and “birth tourism” in 2023, arguing the policy causes “chain migration” and “is obviously a magnet, helping draw the flood of illegals over our borders.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Workers” by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
