34. The Danger in Being Undocumented

Juan Escalante's family immigrated to the U.S. from Venezuela when he was a child. It wasn't until he applied to college that he learned his family had overstayed their visa.

Every year, visa overstays outnumber those who enter the U.S. illegally. These same undocumented immigrants pay $11 billion in U.S. taxes annually. Nearly 3 in 4 are considered essential workers. In this episode, we reveal the barriers undocumented immigrants face when they attempt to work within the U.S. immigration system. We look into a system ripe with malpractice and burdensome bureaucracy—which can result in a single application taking up to 40 years to process.

Featuring policy and advocacy insights from Juan Escalante, an immigration rights advocate, Angeline Chen, Senior Attorney at Clark Hill, and Rosa Velazquez, Lead Immigration Rights Advocate for Arkansas United.

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Finding Humanity is a production of Humanity Lab Foundation and Hueman Group Media.

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