Illegal Entrepreneurs
“José” and “Maria” seem to be living the American dream. A wiry, mustachioed man in perpetual motion, José, 36, runs a profitable seven-year-old garment business in Southern California that brought in $650,000 in sales and paid a six-figure tax bill last year, employing 25 people. Maria, 23, manages the firm’s tidy, efficient office. They married in 2001, a year after José hired her, and last year purchased a two-bedroom ranch with a spacious backyard, where they live with their cherubic 3-year-old, George, and two dogs. But the life and the business they are creating could end abruptly. They’re not citizens: Both arrived in the U.S. illegally, and they live with the threat of deportation.Introduced to FSB by an employee who liked the way they ran the company, the couple spoke to us on condition that we disguise their names and that we not report details that might reveal their identity. They wanted to tell their story to counter the argument that illegal immigrants represent a drain on the U.S. economy and to show that their contributions include founding companies and creating jobs.
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