Every immigrant has a story—legal and illegal. The majority of illegal immigrants are from Central and South America. They pay as much as $10,000 per person to smugglers for a clandestine trip into the U.S. They brave a harrowing journey across Mexico where they risk running into corrupt Mexican officials and drug cartel henchmen. They risk death by violent means, rape, dehydration, starvation, suffocation only to face a 25 percent chance of being apprehended by U.S. officials at which point they are quickly sent back to square one. Immigrants coming to the U.S. legally can range from refugees fleeing wars and dangerous political environments to highly-educated individuals flying comfortably into the U.S. for a job.

A recent bust in southern Mexico illustrated the lengths an immigrant will go. An X-ray machine on the border of Mexico and Guatemala discovered two tractor-trailers with over 500 would-be immigrants packed in like sardines. They had no food or water and the trailers they traveled in were poorly ventilated and unbelievable cramped. Each one of these people paid around $7,000 for the privilege. A plane ticket from Guatemala City to El Paso, Texas can be less than $700. And just this year, over 300 dead immigrants have been found in northern Mexico, some piled into mass graves, some splayed across a barn floor, shot execution-style. These immigrants are not ignorant of the dangers they face. Their friends and family warn them and even smugglers themselves inform their customers of the risk.

Some immigrant stories are filled with intrigue, international espionage, and political rivalry. Edvard Tchivzhel was a conductor of the U.S.S.R. State Symphony Orchestra during the waning days of the Cold War. In 1991, his orchestra was touring the U.S. Somehow; Tchivzhel was allowed to bring his family with him on tour, a rarity during the days of Soviet rule. His first stop was in Greenville, South Carolina. Tchivzhel immediately knew he wanted to stay in the U.S. Having made friends with an American translator who contacted an immigration attorney on Tchivzhel’s behalf, the young family manipulated immigration law and was able to gain legal immigration status as a defector. Knowing that KGB agents were planted in the orchestra, Tchivzhel finished the month-long tour before making his escape. FBI agents escorted him and his family to the immigration office in Washington, D.C. but had to stop because a car was following them. FBI agents confronted the tail, who were Russian but denied any involvement with Tchivzhel, and made them leave. Tchivzhel escaped the indescribable weight of Soviet totalitarianism and is now the music director and conductor of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra.

Not all immigrant stories are as exciting and dangerous. Many marry a U.S. citizen and transition smoothly from foreign national to legal resident. Many join a brother or sister and many just get a job and are allowed into the country. As Americans, however, it is important to remember that somewhere up the genealogical tree there’s a story of growth and change where someone made an important choice and not only affected forever the course of their children and grandchildren’s lives but helped shape the America of today.