geoff: After marking its 11th
anniversary this month, a
long-standing immigrant
protection program could be
struck down by a federal court
in Texas.
A judge is expected to hand down
a decision this month about the
legality of DACA, the deferred
action for childhood arrivals,
that protects undocumented
immigrants who came to the U.S.
As children from deportation.
There are more than half a
million DACA recipients and many
are in limbo as theyywait the
judge's ruling.
We hear from some of them now.
Jonathan: Hi, my name is
Jonathan Rodas.
I am a DACA recipient.
I am originally from el
Salvador.
Katia: My name is Katia Rubio
leal.
I was born in Hidalgo, Mexico,
raised in Arkansas, but now
reside in Kansas City.
I attend rocherst university.
I'm a rising senior.
Onion: I go by onion ha.
Lived in this country since I
was five, six years old and have
been on DACA since 2016.
Aurora: My name is Aurora.
I am 24 years old.
I came here when I was 10 months
old from Mexico.
I applied for DACA, but I've
been blocked.
So meantime, I am undocumented.
I don't have DACA.
Jonathan: With my DACA, I felt
for this 10 years, 11 years now,
I have felt that I'm part of
this country.
I'm part because I'm paying
taxes.
I have a job.
I'm going to school, and I'm
getting in-state tuition.
I'm getting all the benefits as
a U.S. Citizen or a green card
holder and everything.
Katia: I'm able to find like
really good jobs that like not
many people would be able to do
because I have a work permit.
Jonathan: Only con on it is that
is that we are in constant fear
and a constant fear that, like,
for example, this judge can
strike it down real quick and
then we're in limbo.
Katia: That strain that it's
$500 every two years for my
myself and my two brothers.
There was one case when the mail
lost my brother's card and we
had to pay the $500 again, even
though the mail carrier lost it.
Again, it's $500.
It is not always that easy for
people.
Aurora: I was a freshman in
college, and so that was the
first time I applied.
And the trump administration
blocked applications.
That was the first time I got
blocked.
And then the second time was in
2021.
That was the day that everything
changed once against me because
I thought that, you know, my
future would be different.
Katia: There's still so much
that I can't do.
There's since I'm majoring in
biomedical engineering, I have
to do a lot of research,
especially to get into grad
school.
When I try and look for
opportunities, all of them are
like, you have to be a U.S.
Citizen, you have to be a U.S.
Citizen, a resident.
So I just go down the line
knocking out things that I can't
do because of my status still.
Onion: I can only think in to
two-year increments.
It's traumatizing because you
can't have any peace.
You can't live with peace.
You have to constantly think of,
like, contingency plans and
backup plans.
And you just got to just kind of
work with the flow.
And it's unfair because your
life is just in the whims of
people that don't even know what
you're going through.
Aurora: Another struggle is that
everyone's moving forward.
You know, I've seen my family
friends graduate already, start
families, buy a house.
You know, I'm still in the same
I'm still in the same situation
of my life that I haven't been
moving forward.
Katia: I've been having it for
like six years almost about.
I've been in school, I've had
really good grades, I've done
good jobs.
I don't have a speeding ticket,
you know, like what is
prohibiting me from becoming a
citizen if I'm a law abiding
person?
And people prove themselves year
after year that they want to be
here in this country.
They want to do good, they want
their security, but they're
still not granted it at all.
Onion: I constantly struggle
between my Korean and my
American identity because now
people are telling me I'm not
American and I don't deserve to
be in this country and I need to
get out of here because I made
the wrong choice when I was
five, six years old.
And it's like I never made the
decision anyways.
So it's like, it's insane.
So it's like, yeah, like there's
a daily struggle with, like,
your identity of who you are.
And, you know, you have to
reaffirm that you are, you know,
you rightfully deserve to be in
this country.