STATE OF OPPORTUNITY. Can Kids in Michigan Get Ahead?
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
This special reporting project wrapped up in May 2017. Read more.

Two undocumented students discuss their diverging fates

Two young immigrants in Michigan caught in the middle of an immigration stalemate are Daniel Lopez and Sendy Lopez.

The two friends are not related. Daniel came to the United States from Guatemala when he was seven. Thanks to the 2012 executive order known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Daniel is now among some 700,000 young people who are protected from being deported.

Daniel's mother and older siblings, however, still live in fear of deportation. A split decision in the Supreme Court in June meant that President Obama's plan to extend deportation relief to the parents of American citizens on hold.

The decision also would have expanded the number of people qualifying for DACA. Sendy would have been one of them. But after the Supreme Court decision, she was left empty handed. She can't get a work permit or a driver's license. And she's still at risk of deportation.

Daniel and Sendy sat down to talk to each other about how they felt when they heard about the Supreme Court's decision.

Related Content