OGDEN, Utah (ABC 4 News) – Illegal immigrants have been a hot topic in Utah for years.
Immigration laws have been discussed in the statehouse and
high profile news stories circled around the immigration issue. ABC 4 wanted to take action to give you another perspective on this issue.
ABC 4’s Don Hudson spent several days meeting with and talking to a woman to find out what it’s like to be a mother, a wife, an employee and an illegal immigrant.
An Ogden woman named Esperanza, not her real name, agreed to talk with us if we would not reveal the names and faces of her family. The reason for the anonymity, she is an illegal or undocumented immigrant from Mexico.
Eight years ago, Esperanza said she wanted a better life.
She was living in Mexico with her family but her husband was in the United States. He got here by simply jumping a fence in Nogales, Arizona and out-ran and out-maneuvered border patrol agents.
Esperanza paid $800 to smuggle her daughter into the country and another $800 to get herself across the Mexican border into Arizona.
Esperanza, who speaks English, conducted her interview in Spanish because it was comfortable for her.
Looking back on her journey to the United States, she recalled, "I walked for 22 hours, walking and resting through the desert."