unauthorized immigrants, but Norma—like other immigrants
in Detroit— said the surge in enforcement has created a state
of fear in the city in recent years. “Before you heard about
someone you didn’t know who got asked for their papers,”
she said. “Now it’s your husband, it’s your brother, it’s your
neighbor…You hear people talking about it everywhere.” As
a working mother, Norma isn’t accustomed to being at home,
so she’s spending her time at a community service agency
trying to improve her English while her husband continues
to work. Going back to Mexico isn’t an option. “If it’s bad
here, it’s worse there,” she said. Without immigration reform,
her ability to support her family and contribute to the Detroit
economy are uncertain. “I came here as a newlywed just to
give my kids a better life,” she said. “We just want to keep
working, we’re not here to hurt anyone.”
Jazmin was brought to the United States during the early
1990s when she was 2 years old. Her parents came from the
state of Guanajuato in Mexico. “It was so tough [in Mexico],”
she said. “There’s no jobs. It’s not a very good economic
situation.” She started working in a southwest Detroit bakery
when she was 15 years old while going to school. When she
was 17, her father became sick and died. As the oldest of four
children Jazmin was expected to work to support her mother.
In spite of being an honors student she quit high school and
started working full time. Jazmin worked and babysat her
younger brothers while her mother worked in a factory. It got
harder when her mother was forced to leave her factory job
due to her status as an unauthorized immigrant. Jazmin also
said that workplace raids and deportations have impacted
the Mexicantown bakery where she worked. “We had more
customers before, but since the [immigration] laws have
been getting tougher and tougher there’s less customers,
less money,” s