A day in the life of an undocumented immigrant

President Obama, reaffirmed his promise, Wednesday, to take action by the end of the year to reform the immigration system. "I have no doubt that there will be some Republicans who are angered or frustrated by any executive action I may take," the President said in a post-election news conference.

"The best way, if folks are serious about getting immigration reform done, is going ahead and passing a bill and getting it to my desk. And then the executive actions that I take go away," he said.

Despite commanding election victories by a Republican party bent on defeating his intentions, the President has vowed to take his own action to grant work permits and to put a hold on deportations of unauthorized immigrants, many of them here in South Texas.

"I think the President choosing to do a lot of things unilaterally on immigration would be a big mistake," presumptive Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said during a press conference ahead of the President's remarks to reporters. 'It's an issue most of my members want to address legislatively and it's like waving a red flag in front of a bull … I hope he won't do that because I do think it poisons the well for the opportunity to address a very important domestic issue."

At this time of high hope and great concern about this critical issue in this country, we wondered what it is like living as an unauthorized immigrant. So, we decided to bring you the stories of 2 people in San Antonio with a shared hope to be an American.

Building Fences

In a land without a secure fence at its southern border, Edwin Puente builds them for a living. His trek to America started in Honduras 8 years ago. "We walk a lot like 3 or 4 days," Puente said in broken, halting English. "And sometimes car. Sometimes choo choo."

A coyote smuggled him across the border at Brownsville, where he got stuffed into the bed of a pick-up truck with others just like him.

"I don't feeling my body. Because I go on the bottom. And somebody else on the top."

His ride ended in San Antonio, but not his hell. He said a coyote kept him captive until Edwin found the money to buy his freedom. He figures his journey cost 5-thousand dollars. He says he used to make 5-dollars a day in Honduras.

"We needed this chance. We needed it because we don't have life over there."

Educating the Masses

In a land where a free education comes with the territory, Alina Cortes makes a living tutoring children, some needing help with their English. It's a language she had to learn herself, after crossing the border with her family 14 years ago.

"We left everything," she recalled. "We came with just a car full of stuff."

Her father came to America with a work visa. The rest of the family had a visitor visa. Alina was 9 years old at the time.

"My dad made Texas so amazing and it is. And he said there is a Six Flags and you can go to the pool. And you can do all those amazing things. How would you like it?"

There are 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants living among us in America, according to a report in September from the Pew Research Center.

That total rose sharply for decades before sinking during the Great Recession of 2007-09 and stagnating at its current level, according to the study. The report concludes, "the marked slowdown in new arrivals means that those who remain are more likely to be long-term residents, and to live with U.S. born children."

That's the way life is taking shape for Edwin Puente. He built a business and a family in America.

"I knew I loved him from the moment I saw him … He's very family oriented. Automatically, he embraced my kids," said Rita Puente, Edwin's wife.

Edwin and Rita married 4 years ago. She says he's the caretaker she never had. They own a house on the southeast side, where they raise her two teenage children as a family, pay taxes, and live their version of the American dream.

"He contributes just as much as anyone else," Rita stressed emphatically. "We never have trouble over here, man," said Edwin.

A wave of contradiction and uncertainty defines the immigration debate and its economic impact.

Research published by UCLS professor Dr. Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda in 2010 shows 1.5 trillion dollars added to America's gross domestic product over a decade by legalizing the millions of unauthorized immigrants living in America. The report concludes legalized workers earn far more than the undocumented. And that their earnings send more money flowing through the U.S. economy, which helps business grow and stimulates the creation of more jobs.

On the other hand, a report in 2007 from Robert Rector of the conservative Washington-DC think tank, The Heritage Foundation, concluded outright amnesty hammers taxpayers with a bill of at least 2.6 trillion dollars for immediate access to Social Security and Medicare benefits, and access to Medicaid, food stamps and public housing down the road.

"A lot of people have told me I don't have a right to be here," Alina Cortes said in matter-of-fact fashion. "But once they put a human face to it and they know I'm just another person, they see it differently … You're a nice girl. I didn't know people are nice. I thought people just came to do terrible things and take our jobs."

Alina believes she can help change the minds of the masses and prove many like her are makers- not takers. She actively crusades for comprehensive immigration reform as a high-profile advocate temporarily given the right to be in America under an historic, but controversial directive signed by Homeland Security in 2012 called Deferred Action for Children Arrivals or DACA for short. DACA does not give her the permanent legal right to be in America. But it does permit her and others who arrived here as children the potential to work and pay taxes.

"We were caught in the middle of a big mess. We're doing what we can to help fix it," said Alina.

At the invitation of the Mexican government, Alina returned to her country of birth on a humanitarian mission in October. It's the first time she had been back in Mexico since the year 2000.

"When we got to Mexico there were 2 lines. In customs to enter - one said, foreigners. The other said Mexicans," recalled Alina. "I called by mom and I said I don't know what I am."

In Mexico for a week, she got to spend 2 hours with her family. She says her grandma barely recognized her.

"How do you reconnect with things you do not remember?" questioned Alina.

Edwin says he plans to take English classes to better fit into the model of modern America. But ultimately, the federal government has the final word whether he gets to stay. The family has hired an immigration attorney, and petitioned to get Edwin a green card.

"I stand tall for him because I am from here," said Rita with an impassioned tone. "He deserves the chance just as anybody else. He works harder than most of the people I've ever known my whole life."

"I want to stay. I don't want to leave," said Edwin.

"We are a nation of immigrants. Immigrants made America great," said Joseph De Mott, the immigration attorney hired by the Puente family to represent Edwin. "These immigrants are coming here to work hard, make better lives for themselves and their families and in the process they make a better America for all of us."

De Mott says he believes Edwin has a decent shot of obtaining green card status because he has an American wife and a family who depend on him and stand behind him. Meantime, Alina dreams one day of serving the country as an officer in either the Marine Corps or the Navy.

"This country has given me so much, I want to give back," she said.