Magdaleno Sanchez is just tall enough that his eyes, when staring straight ahead, land squarely on the chest of his 6-foot tall American boss, a white man for whom Magadaleno has worked for the past 11 years.Â
 Thatâs what it looked like after a tense day of work in November 2012, Magdaleno was in that position, silent as his American boss spoke:Â
  âI am American and you are a poor illegal.â
That is how Magadeno recalls it. Jamie Cianfichi, the âbig boss,â was shouting at Magdaleno justas Magdalenoâs wife, Norma, arrived in her car with their two young daughters, Cindy and Kenya.Â
While Magdaleno urges them to stay in the car, his bosses missus, Michelle Cianfichi, also drives up, real fast and, then, breaking so hard thereâs s smell of burning rubber. Screeeeeeeeecccch ⌠She almost rear-ended Normaâs car.
 Mrs. Cianfichi gets out of her vehicle. She walks hard on the ground toward Magdaleno, yelling words that he, with his bad, barely there English, could not understand. He feels her hands starting to push against him. One, and two, and three times into his chest with her palms wide open. Magdaleno backs up from the push and zones out. He keeps his own sides at his sides, as if heâs paralyzed.
 His daughterâs cries zoom him back into reality.
 âIâm sorry what are you saying?â he asks.
Mrs. Cianfichi pointing her right index finger into Magdalenoâs face tells him that he is an âungrateful bastardâ and to simply do his fucking job.
 As Magdaleno reacts by shaking his head to such a demand, Michelle Cianfichi threatens to accuse him of wanting to cross the line with her. He thought to himself âSheâs crazy!â and feared her.
 Magdalenoâs daughterâs cries getting louder.
 âPapi wouldnât do that,â Cindy yells from the car. âNo, my Papi wouldnât.â
 Bossman Cianfichi ignores his wifeâs attributions. His mind is on money. And commands Magdaleno to pay back every cent he claims to have spent on Magdalenoâs immigration lawyer.
 According to Magdalenoâs immigration lawyer- whose name will remain anonymous, Mr. Cianfichi invested two thousand dollars to start a process in which his landscaping company would sponsor Magdaleno in order to adjust his immigrant status in the country. However, it had been 10 years and the attorney saw no interest of continuation from the bossman Cianfichi; something Magdaleno was misinformed of.
 As the Friday night rushes in and Magdaleno is yet trapped between the Cianfichis, a witness speaks up. It was Magdalenoâs landlord. Heâd been watching this whole thing. The police were on their way, he says.
 âThe cops came, and I was more scared. I thought they were coming for me,â says Magdaleno, unaware that he was the real victim. Not speaking your bossâ language can cause all kinds of confusion.
 Fourteen years ago, when he came to this land where he doesnât speak the language, he was âjust another Mexican following the American dream.â Heâd arrive from a warm, dry weather into the stiffing coldness of Dunmore, Pennsylvania. It is a quiet and white suburban town; not much like his hometown in Puebla in which his neighborâs were his best friends.
 Upon arrival, he was 16. Six years into his new American life, after various unstable jobs, he began doing construction and clean-up work for the landscaping company owned by bossman Cianfichi.
 Magdaleno knew he was getting paid $7 less than the Americans. And he also knew he would last longer on the job.
 âWe would start working at 8 a.m. without knowing when we would finish. The Americans would only last a week or even a day. They couldnât take the long hours or the boss yelling all the time. But I had to take it. I wanted my papers. He promised.â
 After 10 years of his immigration case going nowhere and the boss getting more demanding, Magdaleno finally asked for a raise, an amount that would adequately compensate for his hard laboring.
 âYou ainât going nowhereâ was how the boss answered.
 âYou help me and I help you,â he added, threatening. An illegal immigrant can always be deported.
 Magdaleno remembers the day that Mr. Cianfichi made him in charge of the projects and said âWhy canât they all be like you?â
 Which meant, why canât they all work up to 90 hours a week and get paid for 40 hours? And why canât they drive all the way to Mr. Cianfichiâs home to shovel the snow on a stormy day?
 Magdaleno was not one to protest.
 The clients noticed the hard work that Max, as they call him, puts into his work. They would ask him for his number and heâd come over and do errands for them or âlittle jobs on the sideâ on his time off.
 Magdaleno doesnât know who outed him. But when Mr. Cianfichi discovered what Magaleno was doing on the side, he snatched Magdalenoâs cell phone and began deleting his contacts while interrogating him about those small errands.
 Max admitted his side jobs; he did not feel guilt because he knew his clients liked his work.
 As Max tried reaching for his cell phone bossman Cianfichi warned him not to get close; heâd phone the immigration office.
 If Max finished one final concrete job for the company, the bossman would give him his cell phoneâpaid for with his own meager earningsâback.
 Magdaleno knew it was time to quit.
 However, when the job was done, Mr. Cianfichi was already gone, only to be later found outside of Magdalenoâs home.
 Once again, bossman Cianfichi had broken one of the many promises made to Max. He was not there to return the cell phone.
 Officer Sal Marchese who arrives at the scene, files a report on felonious assault and theft; and informs Magdaleno about his rights as a worker. Officer Marchese advices Magdaleno to seek help with the Department of Labor. And how could he not? This is his big chance; the law is on his side.
 Still the fear of having the Cianfichis calling immigration on him remained with him, which is why the Sanchez family moved out of the home they lived in for a decade, where Norma and Max celebrated their marriage and where they became parents.
 âIf I had my papers I would have not withstand all of it. I wouldnât feel fear. Says Magdaleno, while remembering all the 11 years.
 Magdaleno kept record of his âpunch cardsâ which shows his hours for the last two years working for bossman Cianfichi. He also had enough witnesses such as co-workers and clients, of the hours and unpaid work.
 In February of 2013 Sanchez Landscaping Solution was established with the money that Magdaleno received from the unpaid hours and over time in the past two years. Mr. Cianfichi could not fend off the Department of Labor.
Maxâs green card still has a long way to go, but he is going through a process which grants him a work permit and social security. In the mean time, he works and works, living his version of the American dream.
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