NTX ‘Dreamers' worried about future under Trump presidency

As a candidate, President Donald Trump pledged to end a program that protects young undocumented immigrants from deportation and allows them to work legally in the country.

Even though Trump said he did not sign any orders to overturn the DACA program, the so-called ‘Dreamers’ are concerned.

It was a little over one month ago that Jose Santoyo, an SMU student, revealed to his graduating class that he is an undocumented immigrant. He has plans to further his education in the U.S. but says Trump's stance on immigration is giving him anxiety. 

Santoyo just found out he was accepted into a master's program at SMU, the same school where he gave an impassioned commencement speech last month about his life as an undocumented immigrant. He is now worried he won’t be allowed to finish the advanced degree if he starts it.

"We've seen how unpredictable this current administration can be,” he said. “So the threat is always there.”

Santoyo is one of millions of undocumented immigrants able to work and study in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA.

“There's always that anxiety of not knowing what's going to happen,” he said.

President Trump has said he plans to eliminate the program that was originally created by Former President Barack Obama in 2012 through an executive order.

24-year-old Juan Carlos Cerda is another DACA recipient. He graduated from Yale University in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in history. He now teaches kindergarten at Thelma Richardson Elementary School in Dallas, but a delay in processing his two-year renewal paperwork last year revealed just how fragile his future here is.

“I wasn't allowed to work in my school or volunteer in my classroom, and my students were without a teacher for 5 weeks,” Cerda said. “But I’m optimistic. I know in the end I’m here to stay.”

After graduating from Yale, Cerda says he got a lot of job offers but chose to teach at an underprivileged school in Dallas because he understands the importance of getting a good education and wants to see other kids like him excel.