New London - Undocumented immigrants cannot work here, get a driver's license or receive scholarship money for higher education.

But many illegal immigrants - that is, people who did not go through the proper channels to get to the United States - do live here, and have for years. They work in restaurants, clean hotel rooms, raise families and pray at churches. They are law-abiding citizens who live in fear that they will be deported and their families separated.

"They are productive members of society living in the shadows,'' said Shalimar Ramos Wuyke, who is helping to organize a rally Sunday on immigration reform. "We have to show the world that immigrants are an important part of this society. They do pay taxes. They are contributing members of society."

Wuyke is director of bilingual and English as a second language education in New London public schools but is participating in the rally as a private citizen. She hopes the "United for a Fair Immigration Reform" rally will give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves.

"We want legislators to listen to us,'' she said. "The way we're doing things now, it is not working."

Wuyke is hoping hundreds will turn out for the 3:30 p.m. rally Sunday on the Parade.

Reform is needed to provide undocumented immigrants already living here an opportunity to become legal immigrants; give children of undocumented immigrants an opportunity for education beyond high school; and change the laws governing legal immigration to make it easier to come here legally, she said.

The number of illegal immigrants in the country ranges from 12 million to 20 million. Wuyke said there is no way to count the number of undocumented people who live in the area.

The Rev. Robert Washabaugh, pastor of St. Mary Star of the Sea Church and one of the rally organizers, said Sunday's goal is to challenge public opinion.

"They say we're coddling criminals and things like that, but that's quite a distortion,'' he said. "These are families, these are good people. These are people who will be remarkable contributors to society if they're allowed to be."

Wuyke and Washabaugh are two of several community leaders from 15 groups and organizations who formed Advocates for Fair Immigration Reform Movement, or AFFIRM, to plan the rally.

The group chose May 1 because it is Labor Day in many countries.

The fight for new immigration laws has also become a moral issue.

"Without reform, we're creating a permanent underclass of people who have no legal rights and no hope of getting them,'' Washabaugh said.

Wuyke agreed. "If you tell an immigrant who has been here for 15 years that they cannot drive, that their kids cannot go to college, that is wrong,'' she said. "People forget - this country was made up of immigrants.''

Washabaugh hopes the rally will also spur the Spanish-speaking community in New London to become politically active. The immigration issue is already pulling people together, he said.

"The Hispanic and Latino community is very large, but it is not organized,'' Washabaugh said. "They need to assert themselves."

k.edgecomb@theday.com

IF YOU GO

Who: Advocates for Fair Immigration Reform Movement (AFFIRM)

What: United for a Fair Immigration Reform rally

When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Parade Plaza, at the intersection of Bank and State streets