Rich illegal immigrants in U.S. hide in shadows

By John Buchanan

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Many illegal immigrants in the United States are manual laborers on low wages. But there's another group that attracts much less attention: entrepreneurs who have set up businesses, created jobs and grown affluent.

There are up to 20,000 illegal immigrants earning upward of $100,000 a year as entrepreneurs, and their existence challenges the stereotype that illegal immigrants are a drain on the U.S. economy, according to immigration lawyers and academics.

Many say they are living the "American Dream," but almost none trumpet their achievements because they fear deportation.

One example is a 38-year-old computer engineer who overstayed his visa after arriving from Colombia in 1999. Not long after, he founded a Web design firm in Miami that specializes in e-commerce.

Today it's a fast-growing, tax-paying company that recently developed a Web platform for online radio and television that could be a breakthrough technology.

"We are at a good point now, making money," said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of his immigration status. "We are growing every month because our customers are happy. They are U.S. companies making a lot of money from our Web sites."

But the man is near the end of a long administrative process that will likely lead to his deportation. Then his company would close and workers, including Americans, would be laid off.

"I have always tried to look at things in a positive way but now I am disappointed," he said in a telephone interview.

Michael Bander, a Miami immigration lawyer who has represented the man for six years, said his client's dilemma showed a larger flaw in the immigration system.

SPECIAL STATUS?

It is not easy to determine the number of illegal immigrants who earn six figure salaries, but there could be 20,000 of them and a significant proportion earn up to $300,000 a year, said Jeff Passel, lead demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington.

Advocates see the group as trailblazers for the more than 12 million illegal immigrants estimated to be living in the United States, most from Mexico or other Latin American countries.

"These people should be treated like heroes not criminals," said Felipe Korzenny, professor of marketing and communications at Florida State University. Wealthy illegal immigrants also came from India, China, Taiwan, Israel and South Africa, he said.

Congress should address their unique situation, not least because they have more to lose than others, said George Tzamaras, spokesman for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

The United States runs a Green Card residence permit program for investors but it does not apply to those already in the country illegally.