Some years ago, I volunteered at a neighborhood outreach. The community had recently experienced an influx of South American refugees. I never inquired as to the clients' status, but it seemed many of them lived in the shadow of legitimacy.
All the people who came to the center were poor. Language and legal status just complicated their challenges. These were people who wanted to work, achieve, raise their children. They weren't immigrants, illegal or otherwise to me. Just people.