Once maligned, immigrants deemed the pandemic’s ‘essential workers’ may find a citizenship path ‘I have worked so hard in this country, giving it my all for 25 years.’ Jacoba arranges the rosaries hanging next to the altar that she has in her living room. She is one of an estimated 4 million to 5 million unauthorized immigrants who are essential workers.(Lola Gomez / Staff Photographer) Jacoba has sliced and packed chicken fillets at a processing factory and cooked savory stews in a restaurant kitchen, keeping people fed at her two jobs. But for the past 24 years, the Mexican immigrant, who asked that her last name not be published because she lacks legal immigration status, has feared a deportation agent might pop up at any time.