As an educator we at times get migrant workers that send their children to our school.
Last year one of those boys got into some mischief, and the mother was terrified that the police might be involved. I asked the administration if we knew if this family was here illegally and the response was, "We don't know, and we're not suppose to know."
I find this absolutely numbing. I am glad to help all who are in need of education, but to have our hands tied like this because of some idiotic policy is beyond my comprehension.
I'm in the same boat, but in healthcare.
I was absolutely amazed (not shocked, but amazed) when one Mexican woman I was treating (who is married to an American, and spoke decent English), was going on to tell me how one of her brothers was in jail for human trafficing and smuggling.
She was also, for some reason, "worried" that if she crossed back into Mexico to visit family there, she might have her papers "taken away." (at first I thought, why? You're a resident, you're married to an American...what's wrong with the papers?). I think because she shares the same name as her brother, and did not want anything linked to him.
Then, she went on, saying that she would be afraid that they would take her "social security" away....(this woman was in her later 30's). I was treating her for a "worker's comp" injury to her back, in which she was nearing discharge because of her nearing full recovery.
Does that make any sense??
It shouldn't, because if you are on social security, you are not "working." She is using someone else's SS# to collect on, in addition to her working somewhere else (and now collecting worker's comp).
Another spanish speaking fellow came in for treatment, and they were talking, in Spanish, about "coming here." I don't understand much, but I think she was telling him about what her brother (the "coyote" did before he landed in jail)....I did understand "DOOGLAS"...aka "Douglas, AZ" where one of the main routes (and gushing holes in our border) is at. That is where he was "encouraging" her to go through, if she wanted to visit Mexico and return undetected.
I think I still have scratches on my chin from my jaw hitting the ground. And there's not much I could do. I could take names, information, but I am not certain they are not fabricated.
Again, for us, "we don't know, and it's not our job to know."