Laura Guajardo is a civil engineer from Mexico. She came to the United States illegally and now works as a nanny in Roanoke, she said.

During a hearing at Roanoke's city hall Tuesday, Guajardo told the Virginia Commission on Immigration about her life in this country. She was one of about a dozen people who addressed the commission, almost all of whom pointed to the contributions that illegal immigrants make to the economy and recommended that state laws be amended to make it easier for them to legalize their status.

"We're not bad people, we're not terrorists," Guajardo said in Spanish, while an interpreter translated.

Tuesday's meeting was the second of five hearings on immigration that will be held throughout Virginia. After the hearings, the commission, which has been meeting since September, will report back to lawmakers and the governor's office, said Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, chairman of the commission.

Immigration has been a contentious political topic over the past couple of years. Local governments across Virginia, including Bedford County, have expressed concern that a recent influx of immigrants has put pressure on government services. In 2006, rallies across the country urged lawmakers to make it easier for immigrants to assimilate into the country.

"We don't ask to be a citizen, we just want to be here and work and do the right thing," Guajardo told the commission Tuesday.

She pays sales taxes when she goes to the store. And she's earned the trust of her employers, she said. But she doesn't have a driver's license.

"In the mornings, I go out and I'm scared because I don't have a license," she said. "When I come back home, I say thank you God because I'm back."

There are between 250,000 and 300,000 undocumented immigrants in Virginia, who contribute between $260 million and $311 million in taxes, according to a recent study by The Commonwealth Institute. Their contributions should entitle them to more state services, advocates said.

Rachel MacKnight, a lawyer for the Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley, said Virginia should extend Medicaid benefits to immigrants, which would make them less likely to go to emergency rooms for basic medical care.

"If we were to extend some of these benefits, not only would we do the right thing for poor immigrants, but we also would be saving the state some money," she said.

But Eleanor Dillard, who spoke at the hearing, said she was worried that public services were being stretched to the limit by illegal immigrants.

"We need to get a grip on illegal immigration," she said. "We need to quit talking solely about compassion."

Nichole Thomas, who is engaged to a man from Gambia, said her fiance has been in custody for about 50 days after being picked up on an immigration violation after the couple had applied for a home loan.

"He has no idea when they're at least going to let him see a lawyer," she said. "How long are they allowed to hold him?"

Yolanda Puyana, a Mexican immigrant, community activist and Roanoke Times columnist, noted that people have been moving across borders for centuries.

"This is just a new wave," she said. "We don't have to be afraid of this."