The National Institute of Economic and Social Research, a think-tank, estimates that new immigrants have boosted output by more than 1% since 2004 (and by over 3% since 1997).
Despite the bleak economic conditions, her mother, an Italian immigrant, and her father, the child of immigrants, were intent on realizing the American dream for themselves and their five children.
Although economists say the United States is not technically in a recession, the slowdown in economic activity is having a dramatic impact on the amount of money immigrants are able to send back home.