One of my favorite shows, This American Life, featured the voices of two Mexican immigrant girls who also happened to be undocumented. It’s a pretty heartbreaking story. And as Ira Glass points out–it’s one that’s a lot more common than people think.

From This American Life

Host Ira Glass tells the story of Marisela and Yadira, who were honors students in high school. They wanted to go to the best colleges, but they couldn’t get federally-funded scholarships because they weren’t U.S. citizens; they had come from Mexico when they were little. Through a series of fortunate breaks, they manage to scrape together enough money to go to college. Still, because of their illegal status, they have no idea if their education will get them anywhere in America. Helen Thorpe, a reporter in Denver, interviewed the students.