While Ana gets her two children ready each morning, she checks their homework and worries about getting to her housecleaning job on time, if she is lucky enough to get one that day.
When Jose Dominguez clocks in every day at Zaidy’s Deli where he is the head cook, he’s thinking about the busy breakfast rush to come – his family and their future always in his thoughts.
And while Juan is cleaning offices after hours, he is creating poems in his head and thinking of his family back in Mexico.
Ana and Juan are illegal immigrants who asked to be identified only by their first names for safety reasons. Dominguez is a legal resident who was once undocumented.
The three represent a group of people now squarely in the cross hairs of a political debate over whether the state should crack down on illegal immigrants and the people who would employ them. State lawmakers are considering a variety of laws, including ways to exclude illegal immigrants from state services.
While lawmakers are thinking about immigrants, people like Juan, Ana and Jose are focused on more immediate matters.
“They are very worried, but at the same time they have children to feed and bills to pay and must take risks to take care of their families,” said Nancy Rosas, a naturalized citizen from Guatemala who works with immigrants.
The state and federal debate over immigration is a looming cloud, but all they can do is wait.
“I’m sad because they want to put us aside, and all we want is to fight for prosperity and work,” said Ana, who is working with a lawyer to become a legal permanent resident. “We want to respect the laws of the U.S. and become citizens.”
The special legislative session that began Thursday was called after the Colorado Supreme Court struck down a proposed ballot initiative that would have cut state services for illegal immigrants.
Such immigrants already are prohibited from receiving services such as welfare, food stamps and housing assistance. The ballot initiative – or any other proposal – could not affect emergency medical services or K-12 education, both of which are federally mandated.
“All of us Latin Americans have come here to make this a better country, not to use up services,” said Juan, who is a member of the Service Employees International Union.
Like 40 percent of illegal immigrants, Juan came to the U.S. from Mexico in 2004 on a tourist visa and decided to stay.
“The immigrants get the jobs that are the most difficult for little wages,” he said. “We support the most important part of this country economically.”
A recent report by the Bell Policy Center calculated that illegal immigrants in Colorado paid $159 million to $194 million in taxes in 2005 and cost about $225 million in Medicaid, education, jail and prison expenses.
Dominguez, a homeowner who has worked and paid taxes since he arrived in the U.S. 15 years ago, worries about friends and family members who are undocumented.
“I just don’t know which way it will go,” he said. “They all work and own their homes, too.”
Several illegal immigrants said they hope the government will create a plan that provides a way for them to become legal residents one day.
“We want them to give us an opportunity to be here, to work to sustain our families and to be able to travel home for emergencies,” Dominguez said.
Immigrants say they see irony in being the focus of a debate that spotlights government costs when their taxes don’t seem to be counted as a benefit.
“If they say we don’t pay taxes, it’s an attack on immigrants, because we do pay taxes,” said Juan, who has a library card and has attended English classes.
“The bottom line is that it’s very anti-immigrant, and it comes from the top,” said Minsun Ji, executive director of El Centro Humanitario, a day laborer center for immigrants.
Staff writer Elizabeth Aguilera can be reached at 303-820-1372 or eaguilera@denverpost.com.
