Imagine a typical scene in Brighton Beach and neighboring areas that are densely populated by Russians.

Missing are the young Latin Americans bustling around stores, carrying boxes and sorting vegetables. Gone is the flower stand on the corner of Brighton Beach and Coney Island Avenues that sells inexpensive fresh roses and carnations throughout the year. Meanwhile, work at the car wash next to the new laundromat and dry cleaners on Emmons Avenue has come to a standstill because the young men bearing towels and rags to polish the Toyotas and Mercedes have disappeared. And this is only in one neighborhood.

Debates surrounding the new immigration reform bill proposed by senators from both parties are becoming increasingly bitter.

If the new bill is passed and the hunt for undocumented immigrants gradually forces them out of our city, there will be fewer construction workers, babysitters, home attendants, cleaning ladies, car wash attendants, and workers at hotels, restaurants, body shops, and laundromats. There will also be fewer undocumented workers at the small, exotic stores and restaurants run by legal immigrants from all over the world. Indeed, there will be significantly fewer family businesses since the new law will prevent many relatives of legal immigrants, who long to reunite with their families, from entering the country legally.

The new bill will gradually break the so-called family chain that brings people to the United States at the invitation of relatives. Instead, only the smartest, most talented, and most adaptable will be granted permission by the U.S. State Department to enter the country. Only the select few who possess valued skills, academic degrees, and an excellent knowledge of English will meet the requirements of the new point system and be allowed to settle in this country, which, until recently, welcomed and sheltered the hungry, the suffering, and the persecuted.

But, one wonders, then who will take on the thankless dirty work?

Of course, even if the new bill becomes a law, it will not be able to stop the flow of immigrants to New York completely; however, it will alter the traditional image of our city. After all, New York’s economy is supported by small family businesses, each with its own national flavor, commonly known as Mom &Pop businesses. In turn, these businesses are supported by the cheap labor of undocumented immigrants.

U.S. immigration policy has changed frequently and has taken many unexpected turns. One of these turns came in 1965, when nationality and race ceased to play a defining role and family ties became more important. At that crucial moment, it was New York that took the lead in setting a new tone to the immigration debate since it was New York – more than any other city in America – that needed and attracted immigrant families.

By the early 1960s, New York was on the brink of bankruptcy and its population was in catastrophic decline. It was only an immigration law passed in 1965 that reversed the downfall and allowed the city to retain the title of capital of the world. Since then, immigrants – relative after relative – have flocked to New York, and the city's economy has continued to grow by leaps and bounds. Family businesses have sprouted up like mushrooms after rain. In addition to the owner's relatives, these businesses employ undocumented immigrants who are not links in the family chain and are frequently even from different countries.

Such trends were especially noticeable in the 1990s. The most recent statistics show that over 72 percent of the 102,544 legal immigrants who have come to New York since 2005 came at the invitation of relatives, while only 11 percent came on work visas. In comparison, these figures for the entire country are 58 percent and 22 percent respectively.

“The dramatic economic success that New York has experienced over the past 40 years has been due to immigrant families,” said Professor Gary Gerstle of Vanderbilt University, in an interview with The New York Times. "Family businesses have always been the force that molds American society.”

Although, Professor Gerstle did not mention undocumented immigrants per se, the fact remains that entering the country at the invitation of a family member and entering the country illegally are sometimes connected in odd, paradoxical ways. If the new bill becomes a law, the U.S. immigration authorities will be able to spend the next eight years clearing its drawers of the dusty case files of foreigners applying to be reunited with their families legally. But, it turns out, many of these people did not wait their turns and instead came to visit their relatives on work, tourist, or student visas. When these visas expired, they remained in the country with no intention of ever leaving.

Statistics show that 40 percent of undocumented immigrants in New York hold expired work or guest visas. A large group of these people consists of relatives of U.S. citizens or green card holders who came here before officials at the immigration agency could decide on their cases. If the new bill becomes a law, these people, like other undocumented immigrants, will unfortunately have to return home and reapply for a green card.

Here’s another interesting piece of information: Mexican border crossers, who are at the center of the most heated debates, live not only in border states, but also far beyond, especially in New York. Mexicans, most of whom are here illegally, are the third largest immigrant group in our city (behind immigrants from the Dominican Republic and China). Six years ago, there were almost 200,000 Mexican immigrants in our city. Today, there are more than 350,000, including the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.

Some experts still remain optimistic. Historian David Reimers, who specializes in immigration issues, said in an interview with The New York Times that “New York has always depended greatly on unskilled labor. No matter what the legislators end up doing, people lacking special abilities and skills – be they undocumented or relatives of legal immigrants – will always come here regardless of whatever obstacles are placed in their way.”

So “illegal” life in Brighton will not come to a standstill after all.