The 21st century immigrant story

Tom Brokaw Correspondent • Profile

ROARKING FORK VALLEY, COLO. - The Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado is home of Aspen and Snowmass, the playground, as they say, of the rich and the famous. This is also the home of working class and middle class communities.

There are boom times here—a lot of new construction, and a rapidly expanding population. But there’s something else going on: A passionate debate about the waves of illegal immigrants, undocumented workers pouring across the border from Mexico, Central and South America to find a job and a home here.

The debate is about the economic realities, the social consequences, and the political controversies. It’s also about whether these new immigrants should be allowed to stay in the this immigrant nation.

One Saturday night in March, the Garfield county police just stopped a van heading east on I-70, Colorado’s major interstate.

Female officer: They have so much weight, the muffler's dragging on the pavement.

The reason the muffler was dragging quickly becomes clear: Eleven men, none of whom speak English, slowly emerge from a van that normally seats eight.

Gas receipts told them this van had been to the border of Mexico and back. It even had a makeshift bathroom, cigarettes, oil, and Pepsi, and a gallon jug.

A scene such as this has become routine in Colorado—and it’s become a popular image of illegal immigration across America.

But it’s only a small part of the story we found in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado, a pristine stretch between Aspen and Vail.

For eight months, NBC News explored the popular myths and the truths about illegal immigration.

The real story is of a booming economy dependent on thousands of illegal workers.

That illegal community is thriving and enjoying the benefits of what America has to offer—but only by breaking the law— whether it’s purchasing medicine on the black market or buying a fake driver’s license, and it all seems to go on out in the open.

Mark Gould owns Gould Construction company in Glenwood Springs.

It’s first in and first out at a construction site, laying sewer systems, sidewalks, and foundations for homes, and schools, and waste-water treatment plants.

Mark Gould, owner Gould Construction company: Americans don’t want this work.

The back-breaking and dirty work is done by the 25 Hispanic workers on Gould’s staff of 125.

Mark Gould: These are tough jobs. These people work their butts off.

In March, at the beginning of the Colorado building season, dozens of men, most of them Hispanic, gathered in the lobby of Gould Construction.

Brett Gould, in charge of hiring: I’ve gotta have you know real documents you know. They need to be real. Otherwise we can’t even go there.

Brett Gould, Mark’s brother who’s in charge of hiring, struggled to find and keep reliable labor without breaking the law by knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

Tom Brokaw, NBC News: They present their papers to you?

Brett Gould: Yes, absolutely.

Brokaw: To say they're legal?

Brett Gould: Yes.

Brokaw: And how much confidence do you have in those papers?

Brett Gould: Well, to me they appear legal. There are some that I’ve run across that—obviously they’re fake. Yeah, you could see that they’ve done something. They’ve doctored up the picture. 

Brokaw: How much of a detective do you think you have to be at that first stop when determining the authenticity of the papers?

Brett Gould: If it looks obviously wrong, I’ll just say, “We can’t accept these.” I’ve seen permanent resident cards and this one is not  even close.

Brett examines the identification presented: Social Security cards, permanent resident cards, but he’s not required to be a document expert.

Sometimes, the workers just don’t give up. Even if they’ve been turned away, they’ll come back with any documentation they can get their hands on.

Brett Gould:  I need you know either a resident alien card or a permanent resident card. Do you have that?

This man tries to use a Mexican voter registration card and and a Social Security card, crudely forged.

Brett Gould: No, I can’t take this. The Social Security card had a tape over it with his name written in pen and I mean that is definitely a no-no.

Mark Gould: We don’t have enough unskilled workers in the state of Colorado.

Brokaw: But there’s nothing wrong with society advancing to a stage where it’s no longer necessary to have a good pair of boots and a strong back and a good pair of hands at the same time.

Mark Gould: Yeah, that’s the deal.  I mean, right now we have every kid coming out of school feels they’re entitled to a job other than digging a ditch for Gould construction.  And there’s nothing wrong with that. I mean I grew up digging ditches, but the bottom line is we all want better for our children than we had. And at the moment, there are enough skilled positions to where kids don’t have to go in the unskilled field.

Brokaw: And the moral dilemma for you is that, as a citizen, you do want to play by the rules.  And you’re trying to play by the rules.  But as a businessman, you have a need to fill.  So there’s the real possibility that you’ve got some illegals on your payroll who are giving you the documents that seem to be right. Is that a fair summary?

Mark Gould: I would say that we have to make the assumption that we have followed the law and that there is the possibility that there are people in the system.

In mid-March, two men sat before Brett. They were both applying for entry-level jobs— that means digging ditches.

Brett Gould: Okay, I need your Social Security number right here.

Both had Social Security cards that to Brett Gould looked real.

Trinidad, who likes to be called Trino, is from Mexico.

Brett Gould: Sign and date here.

And Ray is American. Both were hired that day by Gould Construction for 14 dollars an hour—more than double the minimum wage, with full benefits.

Even though Brett checked all the identification, a permanent resident card and a Social Security card, could he be sure that Trinidad was a legal worker?

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