Biden touts immigration ideals. When will he protect Dreamers like me from deportation?

I had the honor of being invited to attend the State of the Union address as the guest of first lady Jill Biden because I am a beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, created by President Barack Obama more than 10 years ago to protect people like me who were brought here without documentation as children.

DACA has changed my life and the lives of hundreds of thousands of other “Dreamers” who have lived in the United States for nearly all of our lives and consider this country our home.

I was born in Mexico City, and my parents brought me here when I was 3 years old. Since then I have lived in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, where I grew up alongside my brother and sister, both of whom are fortunate enough to be U.S. citizens. My parents and I, however, are not citizens, and as a result, we have always lived in fear that our family would be torn apart.

My fear drove me to become an advocate for undocumented Americans

My parents prepared us from a young age for what to do in the event that one or both of them was detained for deportation. It is this fear, which I have lived with for as long as I can remember, that drove me to become an advocate not only for DACA recipients but for all of the approximately 11 million undocumented Americans.

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My parents have always worked hard, paid their taxes and have spent thousands of dollars on lawyers to try to gain a path to citizenship – only to be told that it is impossible.

The creation of DACA at least allowed my parents not to worry that I would be separated from my siblings, but the program is now under attack in the federal courts, and I fear that I will once again be forced to live in fear that the life I have built for myself in America will be abruptly taken away from me.

I worked hard, graduating with honors from West Chester University, and found work with a nonprofit that works to support the immigrant community. I am engaged, and I look forward to being able to start a family here in the only home I have ever known.

DACA has enabled me to come so far in life, and it would be unfathomably cruel to erase because of a court ruling all the hard work that I and others have done to build a life.

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Time is running out on our American dream

There have been multiple attempts to codify DACA into law, and provide permanent protections, including a path to citizenship for us, but they have failed every time. The Dream Act recently was again introduced in the Senate, but the prospects of legislation passing both chambers of Congress are not bright, and time is running out on our opportunity to continue our pursuit of the American dream.

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It would be incredible if Congress would finally act to give us the protections we deserve, but I realize that is highly unlikely, at least before the courts have a chance to act. I appreciate President Joe Biden’s commitment to DACA recipients and to creating a fairer, more humane immigration system in general, but time is running short and urgent action is desperately needed right now.

President Obama created DACA through executive action because he also faced a Congress unwilling to move to enact these simple, commonsense protections, as President Biden well knows from his time as his vice president.

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President Biden’s words in support of DACA, and his gracious invitation for me to hear him speak, are much appreciated, but the time has come to take action.

And so I am calling on President Biden to live up to the lofty ideals he espouses in his rhetoric and match them with his actions. We are counting on him to step up when it matters most and use his executive authority to strengthen DACA, protect it from attacks in the federal courts – and allow us to continue pursuing our American dreams.

Mitzi Colin Lopez is an immigration advocate who lives and works in Pennsylvania.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Biden, when will you protect DACA and 'Dreamers' like me?