By Coral Lu<\/p>\n
Indian native Raj has no legal status in the United States even though he has lived in Chicago for nearly 20 years. He has no passport, no credit card, no driver\u2019s license and, most important, he has no identity here.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have a job; I help people in my community do some work, and then they pay me cash,\u201d Raj said.<\/p>\n
Raj\u2019s work is unloading trucks and stocking shelves in one of the shops in the Albany Park neighborhood. In return, he is paid $350 per month, which he uses to pay for groceries and rent for the two-bedroom apartment he shares with 10 other people, and all of them are also undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n
Now, 58, Raj is worried about his medical condition the most. He pointed to his chest and said he has a \u201cserious heart disease.\u201d If he asked the government for help to send him back to India, he would die because country\u2019s technology and health care level are not efficient enough to keep him alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, I am only here for the medication because I couldn\u2019t find the right doctor or treatment for my heart in India,\u201d Raj said.<\/p>\n
Raj recalled that everything began in 1998.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n