Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Immigration Project for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, tried to explain cultural resistance to immigration.

"The debate on immigration has always been emotional," Chishti said. "The issues is not whether we are letting in too many people, but are we letting in too many of the wrong people?"

He noted that several violent crimes by foreigners in recent years--including the World Trade Center bombing, an attempted bombing of government buildings in Manhattan and a shooting at Central Intelligence Agency headquarters--have built up public fears about immigrants.

Recent immigrants also retain the image of being dependent on welfare and the state for health care, Chishti said, but the stereotype is unfounded.

"Immigrants crate jobs rather than taking them away," Chishti said. "They create opportunity and stimulate the economy."

"For example, in 1959, there were five Chinese-owned sewing shops in New York," Chishti said. "Now there are more than 500."

Chishti said the majority of immigrants who come to the U.S. are young and willing to work. They add to the local economies and require little health care.

Chishti said that the problem of illegal immigration might appear more serious than it is because immigrants tend to cluster in just ten major cities in six states.