Life in the shadows: as one of 12 million illegal, immigrants in the United States, Veronica struggles to protect her family's middle-class life in Texas.

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LESSON PLAN 2

DEBATE

Ask students to take sides on one of the key questions in the current immigration debate: whether or not illegal immigrants in the U.S. should be allowed to pursue a path to Legal status and citizenship.

WRITING PROMPT

Have students assume the roles of either Veronica or Jose.

* Have them write a brief, anonymous letter to the editor of the local newspaper explaining why their Lives in Texas demonstrate that they should be allowed to Live in the U.S., without fear of deportation.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Why do you think immigration has stirred such passionate debate in Congress and the nation in recent years?

Veronica found that getting a driver's License wasn't hard for an illegal immigrant. Do you think that's good or bad?

America is often called "a nation of immigrants." What does this mean, and how should it influence the national debate about immigration policy today?

Some lawmakers have argued for making English the official Language of the U.S. Do you agree or disagree with this idea?

FAST FACT

There is no hard data on the number of illegal immigrants who enter the U.S. each year. But there is data on legal immigration: In 2006, 1.3 million people obtained legal permanent resident status.

* Since 1989, there have been seven years in which the number of legal immigrants exceeded 1 million.

WEB WATCH

www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/statistics

The Department of Homeland Security provides information on both legal and illegal immigration.

Veronica keeps her foot steady on the gas pedal. She turns onto a side street, where trouble is easier to avoid. A yellow traffic light flashes and she stops running it is not an option

Veronica, 31, does not take chances. Six years ago, she took the biggest chance of her life by coming to the United States illegally from Monterrey, Mexico, with her husband and three children. Now she has too much to lose.

Border Patrol agents routinely monitor the main roads near her house on the outskirts of San Antonio, so Veronica and her friends and relatives have informal alert networks.

"My husband just called to tell me he saw them right now on the street," she says before leaving the house. "We're careful." (To protect her identity, Veronica's last name is not being published.)

Veronica is proud of what she and her family have accomplished since coming to the U.S. They have a small stucco house with two used cars in the driveway. Her husband, Jose, has a job other immigrants covet: $15 an hour working for a boss who offers no benefits but gives generous gifts like a refrigerator and a washing machine. She now has four children who speak English and stay out of trouble, including a 17-year-old and an eighth-grader who's an honors student.

POVERTY IN MONTERREY

Her life here may not seem like much, Veronica says, but back in Mexico, she lived in houses with cardboard walls and zinc roofs. Growing up, she shared a damp box spring with eight siblings and coffee cans to catch the rain.

There are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. Like Veronica's family, many lead quiet, ordinary lives. Still, many Americans are troubled by their presence, believing that they drain resources, take jobs from citizens, and refuse to learn English. Lawmakers have been considering ways to overhaul the nation's immigration system and tackle he problem of illegal immigration (see p. 13).

Like millions of other illegal immigrants, Veronica and Jose first entered the United States on tourist visas, which they were able to get from the American consulate in Monterrey. The family was waved in at the checkpoint in Laredo.

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Veronica's visa is still valid for five more years, but there are conditions. She can stay only for six months at a time and cannot work. Veronica has violated both rules, making her an illegal immigrant.

In a country where many people seek the spotlight, Veronica prefers to shrink into the background of her modest neighborhood and operate within its safety zones, an area of about five square miles where people don't ask her to flash cards she doesn't have: insurance card, credit card, green card.

She doesn't dare drive the 200 miles to Houston to visit her cousin. The road, so open and busy, is too risky. That popular little taco restaurant on the road about a mile away? Veronica heard it was a favorite stop for Border Patrol agents.

It took her five years to get a driver's license because she heard it wasn't safe for an illegal immigrant to apply. "We were afraid to go and get it," she explains. "But then you meet people who have done it, and you figure out it's OK."

'BETTER THAN LIVING THERE'

No rules are too small for Veronica, and she tries hard to live as a lawful illegal immigrant, an oxymoron she shrugs off.

Her husband, who works 50 hours a week as a machinist, relaxes after work by fixing up old cars. One day not long ago, a code-enforcement officer told him that broken-down cars had to be kept off driveways. Veronica panicked, and Jose now fixes the cars in the backyard.

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Despite all the anxiety and worry, Veronica and Jose cherish their lives in San Antonio. "They treat you better here than in Mexico," Veronica says. "Living here without papers is still better than living there."

She worked for a while. The underground network led her to a man who sold fake Social Security cards and to a factory job making cots for the military for $5.15 an hour.

But she worried that her children weren't being well cared for, so she quit. Now she works some weekends cleaning her husband's boss's offices, and spends most of her time taking care of the house and her family.

PAYING TAXES

Veronica is grateful to be here, even as a shadow. But she feels she earns her keep. "I get angry when you hear on television that we don't pay for things and don't pay taxes," she says.

She yanks her property-tax bill out of a file. It is more than $1,800. Her home-insurance bill is $713 a year. And while Veronica works off the books and does not pay taxes on her wages, her husband has Social Security taxes deducted from his paycheck--even though he bought his Social Security card on the black market and will never receive benefits.

Veronica and Jose have learned to navigate the underground economy to get ahead. At first they shied from opening up a bank account, but the fees at the check-cashing place ($1 for every $100 cashed) made them take a chance. It turned out to be easier than they thought.

Buying their house was trickier. Without a credit history, Veronica says she didn't even think about asking a bank for a mortgage, so they took another route, one without lawyers and credit reports. They met with the owners of the house and the four of them signed a piece of paper, banking on nothing but trust that in about 15 years the house would be theirs. Veronica goes to the bank every month and deposits $537, which includes 10 percent interest (a much higher rate than most mortgages). That money pays off the owners' mortgage.

Veronica worries that the house could be taken from them--by the government or by the owner. "The owner is a nice person," she said. "But who knows? It is in God's hands."

By far the biggest hardship is being separated from their family in Mexico. Calling is expensive, and the Internet is not an option; her family in Mexico is not wired.

When his father died, Jose could not go home for the funeral because he didn't want to risk getting stranded in Mexico. "To not go and put flowers on his father's grave, that is hard," Veronica says. "He still cries about it."

One of the ironies of the recently beefed-up border security is that Mexicans who once moved frequently back and forth--going to the U.S. to work for a while, then returning to Mexico--are now staying put north of the border. They don't want to risk not being able to get back into the U.S.

'TOO BIG A SCARE'

Three years ago, Veronica lost her willpower and went back to Mexico for a visit. At the border on her return to San Antonio, inside a car with a legal resident, she was questioned. The border patrol agent had found her Texas state identification card in the computer database, a giveaway that she was not a tourist.

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Her heart racing, Veronica concocted a story on the fly. Somehow it was convincing enough, and the border agent waved her through.

"It was too big a scare," Veronica says, vowing never to try such a journey back to Mexico again. "I won't risk the future of my children."

QUIZ 2 NATIONAL

LIFE IN THE SHADOWS

(1) Briefly describe the tactic Veronica and Jose used to get their jobs.

--

(2) One of the more difficult experiences recounted by Veronica was buying a house, The problem was that

a the owner did not want to sell to illegal immigrants.

b Veronica and Jose had no credit history.

c the price of the house was more than Veronica and Jose could afford.

d the house needed expensive repairs.

(3) Like millions of other illegal immigrants, Veronica and Jose first entered the United States

a as stowaways on a train.

b by crossing through the desert on the U.S.-Mexico border.

c by claiming refugee status.

d with tourist visas they obtained Legally.

(2) Many illegal Mexican immigrants who once traveled back and forth to Mexico are now staying in the U.S. because

a they're afraid their absence could cost them their jobs.

b they want to be in the U.S. if the government decides to give them amnesty.

c they fear that stepped-up border security may prevent them from returning to the United States.

d they have Largely cut their ties to Mexico.

(5) The country that is the No. 1 source of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is Mexico. Another nation on the list of the top five is

a China.

b Canada.

c France.

d Peru.

IN-DEPTH QUESTIONS

(1) Many people argue that illegal immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy by taking jobs that Americans don't want. Do you agree or disagree?

(2) Veronica says she gets angry when she hears on TV that illegal immigrants don't pay taxes, when in fact many do. What do you think might account for this misperception?

(1) fake Social Security cards

(2) [b] they had no credit history.

(3) [d] by using tourist visas.

(4) [c] fear of border security.

(5) [a] China.

Lizette Alvarez is a domestic correspondent for The New York Times.

VIEWS ON
IMMIGRATION

What should happen to illegal
immigrants who have been in the
U.S. for at least two years?

SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO   62%
APPLY FOR LEGAL
STATUS

SHOULD BE DEPORTED     33%

NO OPINION              4%

Note: Table made from pie chart.

Do you think that most recent
immigrants to the United States
contribute to this country, or do
most of them cause problems?

BOTH              6%

CAUSE PROBLEMS   28%

CONTRIBUTE       57%

NO OPINION        8%

TOTALS MAY NOT ADD TO 100 PERCENT
BECAUSE OF ROUNDING

BASED ON NATIONWIDE PHONE
INTERVIEWS WITH 1,125 ADULTS,
MAY 18-23

Note: Table made from pie chart.

TOP 5 SOURCES
OF ILLEGAL
IMMIGRANTS
IN THE U.S.

MEXICO        6.2 MILLION
EL SALVADOR   550,000
INDIA         400,000
GUATEMALA     300,000
CHINA         250,000

SOURCE: PEW HISPANIC CENTER (2005 ESTIMATES)

Note: Table made from bar graph.