A few Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipients told CNN this week that they will leave the country if Congress cannot come to an agreement on providing them legal status. The two siblings came to the United States from Venezuela on visitor visas in the 1990s and never left.
Sisters Alex and Daniela Velez have come to terms with the fact that their time in the US is likely coming to an end.
“Alex and I are both over this [DACA situation],” said Daniela, who is 24 years old. “If DACA ends, I will leave with Alex.”
These sisters are two of the nearly 700,000 people who are allowed to stay in the US thanks to DACA. The rule allowed people brought to the US illegally as children to remain here and receive college educations, drivers licenses, and legally find work.
Should 19-year-old Alex lose her protection, she says she doesn’t want to stay in America. “I will leave. I will leave America as soon as possible,” she said. “I want to be able to leave on my terms. I’m not going to be waiting for anyone to come for me.”