something new to attach fear and hysteria (and a goodly amount of hate) to - illegal aliens and the immigration issue.

In retrospect the issue flairs up every few years, usually in the context of bad economic times. The desire to lay blame usually goes to the easiest targets; people you know nothing about and yet (we're led to believe) are seemingly everywhere. Just like Communists in the 1950s.

It was the same in 1988, when this documentary first aired (January 10, 1988). CBS Radio ran an installment of their Newsmark series on the then-burning issue of illegal aliens in the U.S.

John Blackstone (CBS News): “Whether we see them or not, these undocumented workers are part of this society, but for most of us their lives remain a mystery. According to Government figures, undocumented workers contribute $23 billion a year to the U.S. economy. And while some blame illegal aliens for American unemployment, the General Accounting Office report released in 1984 says undocumented workers do not take jobs from American citizens. To most Americans, the illegal immigrant is more a statistic than a real face.”

Twenty-two years later, the fingers of blame are pretty much pointing in the same direction with hate and fear achieving the same results.