'Dreamers' fret about their future as U.S. Congress debates their fate

As U.S. President DonaldTrump and congressional leaders discuss the fate of some 700,000immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children,the young people whose lives hang in the balance fret abouttheir future.

Meet fiveof those people covered by the Obama-eraDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)program.

Manyolder members of the group, nicknamed "Dreamers," balancecollege classes and jobs amid a looming March 5 deadline set byTrump to repeal the program unless Congress preserves it.

"I knewDACAwas going to be rescinded, or at least Ithought it was, the day he won the election," saidJavierHernandezKistte, 27, referring to Trump's anti-immigrationstance during the 2016 presidential campaign.Kisttearrived inthe country with his family from Mexico City when he was eightyearsold.

Trump wants tighter restrictions on immigration that hedeems necessary to improve national security and protect thejobs of working class Americans. Supporters of theDACAprogramsay eliminating it would punish people who were too young toknow the consequences of their family's decision to move to theU.S. and remove productive people from the economy.

Last week, senior White House officials outlined a plan thatwould offer a path to citizenship to about twomillion youngillegal immigrants. The proposal also called for a border walland curbs on some legal immigration programs, measures someDemocrats have called unacceptable.

Some DACA beneficiaries said they did not realize wheretheir families were headed when they set off for the UnitedStates.

"My parents told me we were coming to Disneyland," saidKarla Estrada, 26. "We did not go to Disneyland."

Living under the radar and working illegally, several of theyoung people recalled rough, impoverished neighbourhoods, andseeing family members suffer depression or abuse drugs.

DACA, which took effect in 2012, allowed Hernandez to workin education, but she quit her job when Trump said he was
rescinding the program.

Brian Caballero, 25, lives in a converted ambulance on thecampus of California State Polytechnic University in Pomona nearLos Angeles, where he is pursuing a degree in electricalengineering.

Martha Valenzuela, 23, was brought to the U.S. when she was twoyears old. She has no memories of Mexico.

DACA allowed her to get a driver's licence and to leave aninformal job at a taqueria where she earned less than minimumwage. Now she works for a public relations firms as an accountco-ordinator.

Looking at the possibility of the program being eliminated,Valenzuela is balancing preparations for a possible return toMexico with activist work aimed at preserving DACA.

"It takes guts to have a dream and it takes guts to fightfor it," she said.