- I didn't realize what undocumented, or being undocumented
meant until I got to high school.
- When people are getting ready to get their
driving permit, or also apply to college ...
- All my friends were getting jobs.
- But I couldn't because I didn't
have a Social Security Number.
- Somthing I realized very young,
was that getting pulled over means a lot more
when you're undocumented,
'cause it can have much more serious consequences.
- It can mean separation from your family.
- We've heard of people that, a ticket
can lead to deportation.
- When my friend Ryan ran a stop sign,
and when police pulled us over,
I would just text everybody I know,
okay, I'm on this intersection,
and if I don't text you back in 10 or 20 minutes,
call this nonprofit organization.
- If you're out and you're in the car,
and you see the police, you automatically become
struck with fear because you just want to be okay.
- One of the hardest parts is
knowing that nothing is guaranteed.
You don't know if you'll come home
and your parents will be there,
or if you'll make it home that day.
- When you leave the house, and you leave
your parents or your siblings,
you don't know if that will be the last time
that you saw them.
You don't know if, when you come back home,
they'll be there.
So, you don't know if that last good-bye
you shared with your family, be it your mom,
your brother, your sister, your cousin,
is the last good-bye that you will share.
You're away, you're at the grocery store,
you're at school, and you may not be able to come back,
or when you do come back, your parents might not be there.
The fear and anxiety is something that you learn,
and you try to deal with from a very young age.
- And then there's when you graduate high school,
and you've worked your butt off to be able
to get that 4.0 GPA,
- To get you that scholarship, that financial aid,
and once you apply, you realize that ...
- You might have to withdraw because they find out
that you're undocumented, or you might be forced
to pay out of state tuition, on top of that,
no financial aid, and this could possibly mean
you not being able to any more go to that school or program.
- You know, as undocumented folks,
you can't really think of anythings in long term.
There has never really been a sense of stability,
and sometimes it's hard to invest yourselves,
because, in my mind, I never knew, in five years,
in a year, in a couple months, where will I be.
So, it's hard to plan ahead for life
and it's hard to work toward something.
- [President Obama] This morning, Secretary Napolitano
announced new actions my administration will take
to mend our nation's immigration policy,
to make it more fair, more efficient, and more just.
Specifically, for certain young people,
sometimes called Dreamers.
Now, these are young people who study in our schools,
they play in our neighborhoods, they're friends
with our kids; they pledge allegiance to our flag.
They are Americans in their heart, in their minds,
in every single way but one.
On paper.
- So after several years of advocating
and pushing for a piece of legislation,
2012 comes around and we finally have a program
for undocumented.
- It gave a lot of undocumented youth
a sense of more freedom, and it was hope for a lot of us.
- This was the first time when we suddenly felt
a sense of belonging, like all our hard work
was finally about to pay off,
and maybe lead to an opportunity to access citizenship
or a more long term solution.
- Not gonna happen because of grass root community,
it is undocumented folks themselves who made DACA happen.
There is hope, because a lot of people
are just realizing, as we come together, we'll find a way.
- White House officials tell ABC News that
the president is seriously considering ending a program
that provides legal status to hundreds of thousands
of undocumented immigrants who came to the United States
as children.
- The move the president is considering would put
nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants
in danger of being deported.
- In 2017, it's very hard to process
how you're able to live here.
You grew up in this country with friends, family,
with this culture that you're used to,
and all of a sudden, the country doesn't want you.
- Knowing that DACA may be repealed, has increased
and heightened a lot of peoples' worries.
- If DACA is removed, 800,000 people
are going to go back to a life of anxiety, fear,
and uncertainty, because they could lose their jobs,
they might have to withdraw from certain college programs.
This could also mean that they are
now that much more vulnerable to deportation.
- Immigration is a natural occurrence.
It is going to happen,
and we know that we have to build up from it.
We have seen progress in the past,
and just because there's a little bit of reclining,
it doesn't mean the progress is gonna stop.
- Our main goal is to have what we deserve.
We've been in this country, we've worked hard,
we belong here.
- In the midst of all this, I think that it's important
to look around and realize that we have
such a big community of advocates and allies
that really want to see us succeed.
Immigrants always find a way,
and where there is no way, we create one.
And I believe that that's what's really made us so strong.
We need to look to that same resilience
to be able to get through what lies ahead
by any means necessary.
We're not gonna go anywhere, and we just have to
make sure that the rest of the country
gets that message.