"I was born in Guatemala. My parents left my siblings and I when I was just 2. I was brought to the states when I was 7, along with my siblings, I remembered it was a long journey. Upon leaving, my siblings cried, but I didn’t because I was happy that I was finally going to see my mom and was happy to leave my country because my aunts would always beat me when my grandma wasn’t home. I am currently 20 and the only memory I have of my country is my grandma and my grandpa unfortunately he passed away sometime in 2007 or 2008 that was 2 years after we arrived to the states."

“I wanted to go to college next year, but those chances are very low now that DACA might be ending. I wanted to be a teacher in high school because when I was in high school most of my teachers wouldn’t care about our education. They would tell us “I don’t care about your education as long as I’m getting paid.”. That’s why I wanted to be a teacher for a better future for the upcoming generation. Now that DACA is ending, we are going to have to go back to hiding like animals. We shouldn’t fear anything, we are humans too and for them to treat us like this is unfair cause this is the only country I now know. If I end up getting deported, I don’t know what I’ll end up doing in Guatemala because I don’t really remember anything from there.”

• When did you first learn that you were technically not a "U.S. Citizen"?

"I learned I was not a citizen when I found out I couldn’t work."

• What types of things did this hold you back from doing?

“It held me back from working and saying I wasn’t born here cause people would just abuse and make fun of me.”

• Tell us about the day that you found out about DACA and how it would change your life.

“Well DACA has changed my life completely because with it, I wouldn’t have to fear deportation or any type of abuse from cops. DACA has given me the opportunity to work. It allowed my sister to have the opportunity to go to college. ”

• What were the feelings that you came across when you found out Trump’s plan to eliminate DACA?

“I found out that DACA was ending when I was scrolling down on Facebook. I read captions of sessions saying that DACA was ending and it brought me to tears because I felt like nothing again. I’m scared again like many others like me because this is our country too.”

• We admire your advocacy you have done for yourself and others surrounding DACA, what made you decide that you were going to stand up for your rights?

“I realize that I wanted to stand up for my rights because we really shouldn’t be living like this. We shouldn’t be in fear like before. This is 2017, judge me by my actions not by the color of my skin or where I was born.”

"I was 15 years old, when I came to the states with my mom. Back then in 1997 it was extremely complicated for Chile (the country I’m from) to obtain a visa. We came from Mexico, we paid $5000 for a coyote to cross us over. Not like crossing the border or a river. They gave us a card that many Mexicans had back then to enter the U.S. (in a legal way) for some trade or something like that. I remember the Odyssey, it was really scary. I remember my stay in Mexico for 10 days, I cried my heart out in that country and I understood why so many people will cross the border and risk their lives. My last day there, I saw kids that were 5 years old being forced to sell themselves, being abused. Some people I met told me that sometimes the coyote would ask the parents to let them rape their kids if they wanted to go to the states. But I never understood the complexity of being undocumented. I thought for that amount of money, I was able to be legal (I did not know much) about the immigration process at that time to be honest."

• When did you first learn that you were technically not a "U.S. Citizen"?

"I understood at 17 that I was undocumented. When I came to the states at the age of 15, I was not unfamiliar about the process of immigration."

• What types of things did this hold you back from doing?

"At the age of 17, I was ready to graduate and I could not apply to any scholarship, or help because of my status. It was so disappointing. I started working at a country club as a waitress working Friday, Saturday, & Sundays until about 2am in order for me to pay my rent and attend some classes. Being out of state, tuition was about $1000 per class. Shortly after, I had to drop out of school because I had to help my mom with my two younger brothers."

• Tell us about the day that you found out about DACA and how it would change your life.

"When President Obama signed the executive order, I was so happy! It meant the world to me. I knew I was going to be able to obtain a driver’s license for $50 instead of $2000. I was able to register a car, and get a social for the first time. I was able to have opportunities that some people take for granted."

• What were the feelings that you came across when you found out Trump’s plan to eliminate DACA?

"I was really sad the day that President Trump announced that he wanted to end DACA."

• We admire your advocacy you have done for yourself and others surrounding DACA, what made you decide that you were going to stand up for your rights?

"My thoughts were focused on my son. What am I going to do with my child of special needs and in Chile? I would never be able to provide for him there. Desperation is the only feeling going on in my mind."

"I am from Albania. We all come from different walks of life. The ignorant says "only brown people are dreamers." No, we're all dreamers and we are all in this together. I was brought to the U.S. with my family when I was 9 years old and have not stepped out of the U.S. for the past 17 years. My father obtained a work Visa in which he was able to bring his whole family. The only problem was when the company that my father had worked for went bankrupt, my parents panicked thinking that they were surely going to make America their home... We've overstayed our Visa for years."

• When did you first learn that you were technically not a "U.S. Citizen"?

"Although I was 9 years of age when I arrived to the states, I did not know that I was "Illegal". I had assumed that our visa was our ticket to this new country. It wasn't until I was applying for colleges that I found out that I was not a citizen because I did not qualify to get financial aid."

• What types of things did this hold you back from doing?

“In some sense, after finding out I was "illegal", I became extremely depressed because of the opportunities that I was not able to get. It was hard to get a job, opening a credit card line was almost non-existent and not being able to receive financial support for school made me feel like I was not going to go anywhere.”

• Tell us about the day that you found out about DACA and how it would change your life.

“I found out about DACA through the news. I just couldn't get myself to believe that their was a light at the end of the tunnel. With DACA, I was able to get a SSN, obtain my first credit card, and although we do not qualify for financial aid from FAFSA, depending on the state we live in, I was able to receive some aid from a private lender and so much more.”

• What were the feelings that you came across when you found out Trump’s plan to eliminate DACA?

“Leading up to the election, I myself was terrified. Trump promised that he would get rid of DACA on day one of his presidency. I became recluse and started having dark thoughts. As a form of coping, I started to go out for runs along my community. I thought to myself that maybe I should learn Albanian in case anything goes south. The way that the entire rescinding of DACA happened - I would describe it as a really shitty breakup.”

• We admire your advocacy you have done for yourself and others surrounding DACA, what made you decide that you were going to stand up for your rights?

“I realized that my tears were not going to change anything. I became so angry and that wasn't me at all. I I focused my emotions on standing up for what I feel is justice to all Dreamers. I thought to myself, why should I be punished for something that was not in my control.”

"I came to the U.S. when I was 11 back in September of 1999 from Reynosa, Tamualipas, Mexico with my while family. My parents and siblings. I am the second oldest of 4. The beginning like always was very difficult because of the language and of course we were low income. My dad was the only one that worked and sustained the whole family. We never received any help from the government such as food stamps, housing, & medical assistance because we did not qualify. My father worked for everything we had."

• When did you first learn that you were technically not a "U.S. Citizen"?

"I always knew we were illegals. We crossed the border legally with a visitor’s card, but our parents told us that if we were asked to just say that we were going on vacations when we crossed the border. So, we were old enough to understand what that meant."

• What types of things did this hold you back from doing?

“Being an illegal citizen did stop me from lots of things. My way of thinking was too narrow as in I knew there were stuff that I was never going to be able to do like travel to other states since we lived inter Rio Grande Valley and in order to visit other states we needed to cross a checkpoint. I would hold back a lot even from participating at clubs in high school and always felt kind of in a shadow.

I always heard that I could go to college because at school counselors would talk to us about it. Even if we were illegals, we could go to college. Which I did, but always thought to myself what for? I’m still never going to be able to pursue my career. However, I graduated top 10% of my class and so I decided why not, since I qualified for financial aid.”

• Tell us about the day that you found out about DACA and how it would change your life.

“I was going to college when DACA came out. So, it was awesome news for me. I graduated from the university feeling relieved and also very excited! DACA has changed me a lot in the way I think, now I know that doors can open for those who believe and do their best.”

• What were the feelings that you came across when you found out Trump’s plan to eliminate DACA?

“It has been sad knowing that Trump ended the program, but somehow, I don’t have that negativity any more. I am much more confident that there will be a door opening for all of us dreamers.”

• We admire your advocacy you have done for yourself and others surrounding DACA, what made you decide that you were going to stand up for your rights?

“DACA has helped me a lot and I feel I am more competent and a more self-sufficient woman because of it.”