Life and the border: Get-tough approach

Covarruvilas, a dealer at a Wendover casino, says her life has become much easier since she got a green card 15 years ago, and with it the ability to cross back to Mexico to visit her family. Still, she can't shake the fear she lived with for years.

"I see border patrol, I still get nervous. I'm a citizen now, but I see, there is la migra," she says using the Spanish slang for Border Patrol. "They need to create a plan with some justice. A lot of good people deserve to get green cards for years of working."

Immigrants — legal and illegal

• 500,000 undocumented immigrants have arrived in the United States each year since 2000.

• 75,000 to 100,000 undocumented immigrants live in Utah.

• In Wendover, Utah, 46 percent of the residents are immigrants.

• 63.4 percent of the United States' nearly 1.3 million new legal permanent residents last year were sponsored by a family member.

Sources: Pew Hispanic Center, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Census

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com