Immigrants Hope to See Reforms
By: Kyle Leyenberger
Updated: February 18, 2013
President Obama is calling on Congress to overhaul immigration laws and local immigrants hope to see reforms this year.
Luis Martinez is working on an associate's degree in international business, but he's also an undocumented immigrant.
"I know I'm not supposed to be here," Martinez says. "It's just a decision I took to get a better life."
Martinez came to the country on a tourist Visa that expired two years ago, and says now he risks deportation if he tries to renew it.
He hopes to see a change in the system, allowing immigrants who work and pay taxes gain a pathway to citizenship.
"They just go to work, home, work, home," he says. "That's why we can tell the system is broken, because people, they can become a good citizen for this country. It's people who really want to work... We're just trying to be part of this community."
Ana Aguayo, associate director for development at the Northwest Arkansas Workers Justice Center says undocumented workers are often taken advantage of, but are afraid to ask for help because they may be deported.
"We have many people in our community who are working undocumented, and are withstanding not getting paid, or withstanding health and safety violations and they're not speaking up about it," she says. "They don't want to be separated from their loved ones."
She says undocumented immigrants have a huge impact on the economy in Northwest Arkansas, and promoting a pathway to citizenship makes more sense than mass deportation.
"For every person we deport there is a cost for it, so tax paying money is going to go to that rather than having people work, pay taxes and contribute," she says. "We're starting to see people recognize the economic contribution of the immigrant workforce into this nation."
Luis Martinez is working on an associate's degree in international business, but he's also an undocumented immigrant.
"I know I'm not supposed to be here," Martinez says. "It's just a decision I took to get a better life."
Martinez came to the country on a tourist Visa that expired two years ago, and says now he risks deportation if he tries to renew it.
He hopes to see a change in the system, allowing immigrants who work and pay taxes gain a pathway to citizenship.
"They just go to work, home, work, home," he says. "That's why we can tell the system is broken, because people, they can become a good citizen for this country. It's people who really want to work... We're just trying to be part of this community."
Ana Aguayo, associate director for development at the Northwest Arkansas Workers Justice Center says undocumented workers are often taken advantage of, but are afraid to ask for help because they may be deported.
"We have many people in our community who are working undocumented, and are withstanding not getting paid, or withstanding health and safety violations and they're not speaking up about it," she says. "They don't want to be separated from their loved ones."
She says undocumented immigrants have a huge impact on the economy in Northwest Arkansas, and promoting a pathway to citizenship makes more sense than mass deportation.
"For every person we deport there is a cost for it, so tax paying money is going to go to that rather than having people work, pay taxes and contribute," she says. "We're starting to see people recognize the economic contribution of the immigrant workforce into this nation."
