wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

There are many wonderful stories like these about the human face of immigration at Dreams Across America.

http://dreamsacrossamericaonline.org/

They're collecting the stories of 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th generation immigrants, along the lines of NPR's Story Corps project. Stories are coming in as video and text. Check it out.

My partner and I are friends with a lesbian couple, one of whom is an illegal immigrant from New Zealand. If she was deported either a very long relationship would be broken up forever or her partner would follow her ... and have to leave her successful Brooklyn business behind.

This September will be my 20th anniversary in this city. I lived here illegally for 14 years. I took care of 2 children and observed many other illegal immigrant women raising a new generation of kids in this country. I now own my own business and have been able to grow with the help of the help of an amazing young illegal woman. I have hired and will continue to hire illegal immigrants. Economically this country will be in great distress if not for the contribution of this hard working people.

Not everyone knows how much illegals contribute. We are in a business that necessarily hires them and pay them the prevailing wage--they can find work elsewhere if we don't. They very often pay taxes including social security, which they themselves will never be eligible to collect--and thus are contributing to our retirement!

In our community illegal immigration has effected the fabric of our community, including its economy, that they have changed the very nature of services here. Child care once was a profession and now is considered more of a low-wage, low-skill task. This has pretty much destroyed the market for child care workers who consider that work to be professional. It effects our lives because we are only interested in finding those pros (immigrants or not).

Incidentally, I do not blame the workers for this at all; instead, I blame the parents who care more about price than quality.

I am a US born citizen married to an illegal immigrant. He was brought here as a small child in the mid-80s and graduated not only from a US high school but also a US university. Due to a law change in April 2001, I can not sponsor him for a green card because he entered illegally (we did not marry until 2004). Despite his BA, he can not keep a job for more than 3 months b/c that's usually how long it takes Social Security to recognize that his tax ID number is not a valid SSN.