In 1994, California was in the throes of an economic recession, its unemployment rate increasing rapidly as it continued to bleed jobs in once flourishing industries. At the same time, it had the largest population of undocumented residents of any state in the country, already up to 1.3 million and getting larger. Read more...

Photo: Laura Emiko Soltis is the director of Freedom University, an Atlanta based advocacy school that supports undocumented students in their desire to pursue higher education. (Photo by Angie Wang)