Cristina Aguilar

Las Vegas Dept: Cristina Aguilar is one of them. She fled a poverty-stricken life in Mexico for California in the 1980s and spent 11 years laboring in hotels there, barely making enough for her and her eight children to survive. She moved to Las Vegas in 1998. Thank God, she says, according to CTV. The steady migration of Aguilar and others like her has turned what once was a reliably conservative, largely rural state into a key political battleground and a test case for whether Republicans can succeed without the support of a rapidly growing Hispanic population and lAS VEGAS -- This city's skyline is dominated by an imposing row of high-rises, much like in any American metropolis. What makes politics here different is who works in those skyscrapers - not lawyers or accountants, but heavily unionized housekeepers, blackjack dealers and line cooks who have transformed Nevada into a swing-voting state. Now she's a hostess at Circus Circus' buffet. She and her husband, who works in room service in Harrah's Casino, saved enough to buy a four-bedroom house with a pool. Her youngest daughter will soon graduate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This is why we came to the U.S. and worked so hard, says Aguilar, 58, one of dozens of Culinary Workers' Union members who were about to hit the streets to canvass for President Barack Obama recently. We came to this country to triumph, not just survive. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.