Since the days of the Mayflower the United States has been the desired destination of most immigrants.
But in the aftermath of the economic downturn, sentiment against immigrants has hardened, and deportations have hit record numbers.
With 11 million people having either crossed the border illegally, or having over-stayed their visa, there are more illegal immigrants in the US than there are people in Greece.
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Many carry out jobs that most Americans won't consider, often for rates of pay no Americans would work for.
In the current climate, illegals live in fear of having their documents checked and being deported.
"We're in the midst of the largest deportation campaign in recent American history", says Professor Marcelo Suarez-Orozco from New York University.
Millions of children born in the US also live with uncertainty, as their parents face possible deportation.
"We have children that woke up this morning, that went to school and on their way to school they didn't know whether their parents were going to be apprehended and deported", Suarez-Orozco says.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is an advocate of the illegal workforce. He says the US's current immigration policy is national suicide; with the backing of some of the biggest corporations in the country, he's lobbying congress to confer legal status on all undocumented immigrants.
But he's facing stiff opposition from a public with a familiar sounding love-hate relationship with immigration.
The extended interview with Professor Marcelo Suarez-Orozco is available on our YouTube page.
