COLORADO SPRINGS — Monica Pérez Valdovinos didn't sleep much Wednesday night.
"I stayed up all night until like 4 a.m., I ended up going to sleep and then my mom woke me up and she's like Moni- they made the decision," Pérez Valdovinos said.
The decision her mother was referring to came from the Supreme Court Thursday morning- which ruled against President Trump's administration to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA). Recipients of the program are known as "dreamers."
The program was created under an executive order by President Barack Obama in an effort to protect children who were brought into the U.S. by their parents as undocumented immigrants.
In 2017, President Trump announced plans to rescind the program and ended any new applications.
"I've been waiting for this for a really long time," Pérez Valdovinos said, "it's been a roller coaster of emotions."
Pérez Valdovinos is one of more than 14, 000 dreamers, according to Dec. 2019 data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. With DACA, Pérez Valdovinos has been able to work in the United States and pursue a degree in Political Science.
She says Thursday's court ruling is a step in the right direction but she's hoping more will be done, including a pathway to citizenship for dreamers like herself.
