BELLINGHAM — Natives of Mexico often feel hostility even after they have legalized their residency here, a group of immigrants and activists said Wednesday at a panel discussion at Western Washington University.

They also expressed concern about the way that U.S. immigration laws can separate families, when one parent who is here illegally is caught and forced back to Mexico.

Liliana Macias of Bellingham, who said she entered the U.S. legally in 1999, said friends of hers who have managed to get legal status and citizenship are still fearful that their rights could be taken away again if they register to vote or get involved in movements to change immigration laws.

Macias now works in a small group of women who call themselves Las Margaritas, preparing traditional Mexican meals for weddings and other events.

“In Las Margaritas I feel like a fish in water, because we work together and share the same ideals for our future,” Macias said.

Another immigrant, Maria Guzman of Everson, described the hardships of illegal border crossings across the Arizona desert before she succeeded in legalizing her status.

Guzman and her husband have supported themselves pruning raspberry and blueberry bushes and picking cucumbers.

“Between the two of us working, we were able to save a little so we could make it through the winter,” she said.

She’s now part of an immigrants’ cooperative developing an organic farm to grow vegetables for local farmers markets.

Rosalinda Guillen, executive director of the Community to Community Development immigrant rights organization, said she has been part of a monthly protest vigil outside the Tacoma detention center for immigrants detained by federal authorities.

“There’s 1,000 people in the detention center in Tacoma right now,” Guillen said. “That’s the end result of all these enforcement tactics … that are costing millions and millions of dollars, to hold these workers in a prison in Tacoma, Wash. Not criminals, not terrorists, but workers that are lacking some kind of document. … It’s a painful, ugly part of our history that is happening right now.”

The event was sponsored by Associated Students Women’s Center and the Community to Community Development immigrant rights organization of Bellingham.