Aliens among us

So the main character of my novel is an illegal alien. Yes although I've positioned myself as a science fiction/fantasy writer, no it's not the space-travelin' kind of alien. I mean, undocumented-no-papers kind of illegal alien. The story begins with a brown-skinned girl, found unconscious in the desert of New Mexico. So I've been collecting details of how illegal immigrants are treated and perceived in this country.

Actually, by my main character being illegal, it solves a few major plot problems. You know, how when you're reading a mystery or a book sometimes, all this stuff happens and you're just like, why don't you just tell someone or go to the police? (Well if they did, there would be no story.) Someone breaks into my MC's apartment? Beats the crap out of her? There's no going to the police; too much fear of being kicked out of the country. She can't go to the hospital; fear of being deported. If she's raped or robbed, there's no authority she can rely on for help.

I didn't mean to write her that way, but in alot of ways, my MC is writing her own damn story. Too bad she's not telling me how she works through her situation on Chapter 16; I've been trying to figure how she ends up 10 stories underneath Grand Central Station in the first place.