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2012 – Looking At the Lives Of Undocumented Immigrants In Door County

While visiting Door County this summer, Tori Martinez holds a picture of her family. Her husband remained in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where the family relocated last August while they await the processing of his application for a Permanent Resident Card, or Green Card. Photo by Katie Sikora.

The question had gnawed at me for years.

What is life like for those living undocumented in Door County? The 2010 census counts 671 Hispanic or Latino residents in Door County, but anyone with a pair of eyes knows the number is much larger. Experts put the number as high as 3,500.

Last summer I presented a snapshot of what life is like on the peninsula for undocumented immigrants by telling stories through their eyes and by looking at angles in the debate too often ignored in the national dialogue.

To look back at the series, we present a collection of quotes from the articles that give a taste of the complexity of an issue that we will surely continue to grapple with in the year ahead.

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“The U.S. was supposed to benefit because the Mexicans were going to buy all our goods. But it killed their economy so they have no buying power. So now you have millions of people who all they know is farming. What do you think they’re going to do? They’re going to go where the farming jobs are.” – Attorney Luca Fagundes, on the impact the North American Free Trade Agreement had on immigration

“We can’t find local kids able to fill these jobs and work these hours. If we didn’t have them, I don’t know what we would do, and I’m not the only one.” – A Northern Door hotel owner who said it’s likely their staff includes undocumented immigrants

“I could probably name you three or four different employers who routinely employ them – orchard, farm, and restaurant work. It’s got to become a portion of their bottom line. Pull that out and you would hurt a lot of businesses.” – Door County District Attorney Ray Pelrine, on the role of undocumented immigrants in the local economy

“Illegal immigrants pay social security and withholding taxes, but aren’t eligible to collect the associated benefits or unemployment benefits. A study produced by the state comptroller of Texas, where it’s estimated that undocumented immigrants make up as much as 8 percent of the total workforce, revealed that those workers generated $1.58 billion in state revenues and used $1.16 billion in state services.” – an excerpt from “The Immigration Debate – And Why It Matters to Door County More Than You Think”

“There really has never been much enforcement against employers who employ undocumented immigrants, aside from the occasional crackdown on a big corporate manufacturer or agricultural business.” – Attorney Luca Fagundes

“You move to the states, get a job, make some money and start sending some home.” – Tori Martinez, describing the “right of passage” in poor Mexican towns like the one her husband came from at age 15

“You can’t help who you love.” – Tori Martinez, on falling in love with her husband, an undocumented immigrant forced to return to Mexico for two years while his papers are processed

“You know you’re not from here, but for more than half of your life you live here, so you don’t think about it in terms of school and life.” – Julio, a northeast Wisconsin high school graduate, on encountering the challenges of applying to college as an undocumented immigrant

“Regardless of your stance on illegal immigration, there’s a real case to be made to treat these kids very differently. To create a real pathway to citizenship. It’s critical to their parents, to their communities. These are fully integrated Americans, who are legally left out.” – Roberto Gonzalez, assistant professor at the University of Chicago, on the DREAM Act, which would allow children of undocumented immigrants to earn citizenship

“You don’t have an option when you’re seven years old? What would you have done? Said no?” – Julio, when asked why he came to the United States without proper documentation