7:15 AM on the dot, she wakes up to get ready for her day at work. She fixes herself a quick lunch and gives money to her younger brother for school, so he can buy himself something to eat. She remembers she needs to buy groceries today after her shift, and worries about what time she will get home.

Her day is spent working from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, sometimes 6:00 PM. This gives her few hours of daylight to complete her list of chores: laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, self-maintenance, repeat. At night she gets to talk to her parents on the phone, who has moved to a different state to pursue a business. She hasn't seen them in a few months.

Every day is like this for one young woman who works and is able to support her family thanks to DACA - also known as Deferred Action for Child Arrivals. This past week, the decision was made to begin canceling the program, with a six month wait period to allow time for Congress to decide on whether to maintain the legislation or cancel it all together. Since the Trump Presidency began, Dreamers - all 800,000 of them - have lived in fear, worrying every day about how long the program will last.

DACA allows undocumented young adults to file their status to the government, and be given protection from deportation for two years. They can apply to work through a lengthy and expensive process and the applicants must have a clean record in order to be accepted into the program.

DACA recipients receive no money from the program and must pay for their application fees. DACA does not provide any federal funding (FAFSA) for students under the program and does not give the working recipients benefits such as Welfare, Section 8, Food Stamps, or Medicaid.

Dreamers have faced racial discrimination, fear of deportation, and the loss of their undocumented loved ones. Many of their families are torn apart. The survival of DACA is necessary for their own survival - many of these dreamers were born at a young age in their home countries before being brought to the US. They do not know these countries, and they are as American as you and I, as our neighbors and as our community members.

America is all they know. It is quite possible you have a Dreamer in your life and don't even know it. Now they face deportation and the loss of their livelihood, at the hands of a government that have systematically dehumanized and criminalized them and their existence in this country.

Out of her own privacy and protection, the dreamer interviewed for this article wishes to remain anonymous. But she is one of our peers, one of our neighbors and community members - we went to school with her, we grew up with her. And now she faces a harsh reality none of us could ever come close to imagining - being displaced, torn from her home and returned to a country she knows little about. I talked with her about what it is like to be a dreamer, and how this current political climate has affected her daily life. Her answers will be labeled with a D; for Dreamer.

Me: How old were you when you came to the United States, and do you remember much of your home country?

D: I came when I was one year old, so no, I don't remember anything about my home country.

Me: How did you find out that you were undocumented?

D: My parents never hid it from me. They always told me to not tell other people, but they didn't tell me why. The reality of being undocumented didn't hit me until around middle school.

Me: Many comments have been made recently that place the blame on parents for bringing their children to the United States illegally, reasoning that it is the parents' fault for the hardships their children are facing now. How do you feel about that?

D: In the beginning, I did blame my parents. In the end, I know that they brought me to the United States to give me a better life. And it is my belief that I have a much better life than I would have had in my home country, because of the sacrifices and hardships they have made and faced for me. I don't blame them now, and I am thankful for what they did for me.

Me: What do you prefer to be referred by? Does it bother you when people call you an 'illegal alien'?

D: It bothers me because it has a negative connotation now. Any name would be fine, as long as it didn't carry that negative connotation. Illegal immigrants have come to label the Mexican people - you rarely see other people from other countries being referred to as an illegal alien. Only Hispanics and Latinxs.

Me: How has the announcement about DACA being canceled changed your life?

D: I am constantly stressed and worried about what is going to happen to it. I used to have plans for my future, for my career and for going to school, but now I have to wait and see what the outcome will be.

Me: What does your daily life look like - what struggles do you face because of your status?

D: I constantly worry about the racism. More people have become increasingly hostile towards me in the recent political climate, and it scares me to go out, especially as a young woman. You never know what people will say or do to you.

Me: What is something you would like to say to people that wish to appeal DACA?

D: It's not our fault. I just wish they would take more into consideration of what they say, and determine for themselves whether it is true. There is a lot of misconceptions out there, and if they took some time to get educated, they would understand that we have stolen nothing from them. If I lose my job within the next month, I am unemployed.

I don't get benefits for being unemployed - if I don't have a job, I can lose everything. To live in constant fear like that - it's not easy like many people say. Nothing is handed to us. We work hard for what we have. We are people, we are humans first before our status, but all anyone sees is that I am not a citizen.

Me: What has DACA done for you, and why is it important for it to remain in tact?

D: It helps a lot of people get jobs legally. We have been told that we need to do things legally, and that is what we are trying to do now. It has given me a job in a field I love - it helps us progress, and take care of ourselves, and give our children and our family a stable life.

That's all anyone wants to do, is work to provide for themselves and their families. People can become nurses, doctors, business owners, students because of DACA. It gives us hope, it's a huge step forward for us. All we want is what you want: to support ourselves, to have a job we love, and to live our own lives. DACA gives us that.

Help Support and Save DACA:

https://action.unitedwedream.org/petitions/keep-th... - A petition to congress to sign to save DACA.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_LJrF0LkWGLzE_... - Use this easy tool to tweet at your state's representatives on why you want them to save DACA.

https://www.contactingcongress.org/3-1-1-1-1/n/n - Call your own representative using this tool to tell them why saving DACA is important.

http://weareheretostay.org/#action - Give a call to a key Congress member using this tool; your call can be the difference they need to make the right decision.