The fate of aging, undocumented day laborers in the United States

Americas Now

They risk it all by immigrating to the United States illegally to find work and send money home to their families. Hiring them is illegal because they are undocumented but that doesn’t stop it from happening and on a large scale.

Many “day laborers” come from Latin America for what they think will only be a few years and endure strenuous work in fields such as construction and landscaping to earn cash. But often, continued monetary pressure turns a few years into a few decades. Undocumented Latino workers frequently find themselves entering their senior years alone, insolvent and with few options.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States. Most of them are Latinos who crossed the U.S. southern border in search of work.

Correspondent Gerry Hadden reports from New York on the lives of some of these aging immigrants.