[CondorFlight]

“They were also all so dumb they didn’t know what toilet paper is for.”

In a lot of those countries the infrastructure hasn’t kept pace. So, the sewage system can’t handle very much, including toilet paper. Therefore, the custom is NOT to flush the used paper down the toilet, but to place it in a receptacle in the bathroom.

When these people come to the US, they think that is the proper custom here, as well.

[hanamizu]

Therefore, the custom is NOT to flush the used paper down the toilet, but to place it in a receptacle in the bathroom.

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My wife managed to clog all five bathrooms in her son’s and daughter-in-law’s home in Costa Rica by flushing toilet paper in their Costa Rican home. As you say, the custom is to put the toilet paper in a trash can, not flush it. Can’t really blame newcomers for not knowing that. Can blame them for entering our country illegally.

[Huaynero]

“the custom is NOT to flush the used paper down the toilet, but to place it in a receptacle in the bathroom.”

True enough though not so much “custom” as practical SOP. Also consider that lacking significant annual rainfall, some areas of Latin America (Peru) rely on melting snow pack for household water. Then there’s municipal water & sewage systems that predate even the antiquated underground piping of places like Washington, DC.