Half a million Dreamers’ future uncertain following a case challenging DACA

(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - The future of more than half a million Dreamers is in legal limbo again after a case challenging DACA was heard in a Texas federal court.

The program allows immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to study and work without fear of deportation.

"We need a pathway to citizenship," said Flor Martinez Zaragoza, a Dreamer living in the Bay Area.

That's how other Dreamers in the Bay Area feel with the ongoing battle surrounding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA).

"A district court judge in Texas issued an injunction claiming DACA was illegal. Since then, that finding has been appealed up to the Fifth Circuit," said Andrew Newcomb, an immigration attorney.

On Thursday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard oral arguments on the legality of the immigration program protecting some 530,000 people from deportation and providing them with work permits.

"Seeing this on the news, we are already too angry. So many times, they have tried to scare us," Zaragoza expressed.

Zaragoza also says she's frustrated the Obama era program is being challenged again, explaining DACA has not only shielded her from deportation, but it even allowed her to travel back to Mexico under Advance Parole, which is another program that can provide travel permits to qualifying applicants under special circumstances.

Zaragoza further says she is worried about losing these benefits 12 years after DACA was implemented and 26 years after she was brought to the U.S. as a toddler.

She says she lives in uncertainty, renewing her work permit every two years and not knowing what will happen next.

The government is still processing renewal applications but the program remains closed off for new applicants. That includes an estimated 400,000 people who would've been eligible for DACA.

"If you have DACA, first of all, don't let it expire and don't let it be expired for more than a year. Be very careful about certain types of crimes and misdemeanors, alcohol related offenses," Newcomb said.

The Fifth Circuit judges didn't give a timeline on when they will make a decision or how they might rule.