GREENSBORO, N.C. -- DACA recipients and supporters around the Piedmont Triad are planning a march Monday night in downtown Greensboro in support of the program.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is a policy put in place during the Obama Administration in 2012. It allows certain illegal immigrants who came to the country as minors to receive renewable protection from deportation and eligibility for a work permit.
President Donald Trump is expected to announce a plan to put an end to the program Tuesday, keeping DACA recipients on edge.
"I would love to worry about what normal people worry about at this time, but I have to incorporate a lot of my energy and time into ensuring my future stays put," explains Araceli Garcia-Garnica.
She's the first in her family to graduate high school and attend college. She's a sophomore at Bennett College and hopes to continue pursuing her degree in business.
But her future is dependent on her past. She came to North Carolina from Mexico City when she was 2-years-old and has stayed in Guilford County through DACA. She's even been to lawyers about becoming a citizen.
"They offered me the DACA program and said this is the best we could do for you at the time," she explains.
It proves to be a path plagued with uncertainty, for Araceli and other DACA recipients.
"We came forward," says Laura Garduno-Garcia, another DACA recipient living in Guilford County. "We declared who we are, we said where we live, where we work."
And that certainty about status is becoming less and less certain for Laura and her family.
"I am married. I have two US citizen children. But our family is mixed status so while our children are born here we can't necessarily say to them that this is the home that has taken us in and that hurts."
Garduno-Garcia came to the United States from Mexico when she was a baby. It wasn't a decision she made, but it's one she has to live with. And it's one she's willing to fight for.
She has her family, her home and has built a career in Human Resources all in Guilford County; it's the only place she knows as home and she doesn't want to be pushed out.
"I don't know how to prepare my young children to have that conversation about we might not be here."