http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3501997.html

Dec. 5, 2005, 7:18AM

ONE NATION, TWO WORLDS
Immigrants struggle with illegitimacy
Illegal status not always an issue, but stigma still felt
By ELENA VEGA AND TONY FREEMANTLE
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Their dream was a small piece of land in Mexico City, a place to build a modest house, a refuge from the inner-city barrio where they made their living selling used handbags on the street.

Their plans included Houston, but only as a temporary step. Francisco would come here for a year, make some money and return to Mexico City.

They never thought that eight years later they would be living in a small, neat apartment in southeast Houston, or that one of their children would be a U.S. citizen, or that having a share of the American Dream within their grasp could be so seductive, and so elusive.

They certainly never imagined they would be lawbreakers, that as undocumented immigrants they would live with an ever-present and pervasive fear of being rounded up by immigration authorities and deported.

But this is where Francisco and Liliana find themselves.

It's not something they are proud of or enjoy. It's also a source of great sadness, because fear of recrossing the border makes it a virtually insurmountable barrier between them and their loved ones at home.

They think often about going back. But here they earn more money than they ever could in Mexico City. Here their three daughters will learn English and get a better education. Here they have a car and they are working to buy a house. Here, life is moving forward.

"We get to a point that we are neither from there nor from here," Liliana said. "If I would have in Mexico everything I have here, I would like to go back. Here is like being in a golden cage â€â€