The nearly 800,000 young people nationwide who call themselves DREAMers didn’t get an early Christmas gift.

Congress recessed for the holidays before coming to any policy resolution regarding the hundreds of thousands of children brought to the United States through no fault of their own and, as a result, left them in a precarious position: No other notion of home and yet no solution granting them residency.

Five years ago, former President Barack Obama flexed his executive authority and created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which eased some of their fears. The program shielded these young people from deportation and granted them work permits as long as they met certain criteria. But, in September, the Trump Administration announced that it was moving to end the program by March — essentially forcing lawmakers to act on the matter within six months.

The DACA wind-down plunged the so-called DREAMers back into the land of uncertainty. They’re anxiously waiting to see if Congress will ever pass a so-called DREAM Act, a measure that would allow them to legally stay in the United States.

But the political turmoil surrounding their immigration status hasn’t stopped some DREAMers from making their stories known. The Nevada Independent spoke with a number of DACA recipients who call Southern Nevada home, and we will be rolling out miniature profiles featuring them over the next few days. They may be your neighbor, classmate or co-worker, and here’s what they wanted the community to know about their immigration journeys, hopes, fears and dreams for the future:

Erika Castro

Erika Castro was brought to Las Vegas when she was 3. She has lived here ever since. Her parents decided to immigrate because of the economic conditions in Tlalnepantla, Mexico.

Castro first began to understand she was undocumented at age 7 when one day, she was walking home with her mother, her aunt and her cousin and they decided to stop at a store. Immigration authorities were there.

“I was very young and didn’t understand what was happening, but then my mom started to cry,” Castro said in a previous interview with The Nevada Independent en Espanol. “Her face conveyed fear. My aunt told my mom to go. So, my mother took me, and we ran home.”

After finishing high school, Castro wanted to join the military, but she wasn’t allowed. She didn’t have a Social Security number.

But her life took an unexpected turn when DACA was announced. She took it upon herself to look for organizations where there were other people in her same situation — other DREAMers.

That is how she discovered the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), where she now works as a community organizer encouraging those who can vote to value and exercise this right.

The cancellation of DACA in September, however, made her rethink her path. Thanks to the program, she has been able to work, study toward her college degree in social services, and help her parents financially.

All that could take a different course in March 2018, with the deadline that President Trump gave Congress to pass legislation that will define the fate of the DREAMers in this country.

In spite of uncertainty about her future, 2017 has made her an even stronger advocate for the undocumented. And she said she values even more the effort her parents made, because they have never given up.

Castro said she took the news of the cancellation of DACA somewhat differently than other DREAMers who are not as involved in this matter. As an activist, she knew the chances that President Donald Trump’s administration would eliminate the program were very high.

When her suspicions became a reality and Attorney General Jeff Sessions revealed the news, she worried about those who didn’t know what was happening. Castro viewed the elimination of DACA as a blow to her community.

Her DACA protections expire in September 2018, so work will be one of the first areas where Castro will be affected if there’s no fix.

"If I can't work, how do I pay for my education?" Castro said. "I'm going to graduate from CSN this semester and then I'm going to UNLV, but I know that as September comes closer, I’m going to need to make plans to see how I’m going to continue paying my bills and also stay in school."

Although 2018 will be a decisive year, Castro said that she and her family have searched for alternatives that will provide them some form of immigration relief. They haven’t been successful; her only option is to continue fighting so that Congress passes a bill that resolves the situation for thousands who face the same circumstances.

"There is no plan B for many of us," Castro said. "The government already has all our information. They know where we work, where we live, where we go to school and at this stage we only need Congress to solve this problem they created."

Castro said her greatest accomplishment as a DREAMer is graduating with her associate’s degree, although it took her a long time to achieve this because her family didn’t have the resources to pay for school. She felt ashamed to be undocumented, she didn’t know where to turn for help and was financially supporting her loved ones.

"Having graduated now shows what DACA was really able to provide for me," Castro said.

Anna Ledesma

Anna Ledesma had worked as a pediatric nurse at University Medical Center in Las Vegas for almost three years when a shooter opened fire on a country music concert on the Strip, wounding more than 500 and killing almost 60 people.

Ledesma, 28, was on duty the night of Oct. 1 and helped the victims. She described the scene as something from out of a movie because of the massive amount of injured people lined up in the hospital hallways.

The energetic young nurse considers her profession a dream that only became reality thanks to DACA. But her plans to travel around the country to continue helping others as a nurse could change in 2019, when her DACA permit expires and she won’t be able to renew it because the program was canceled.

Ledesma and her family came to the United States from their native Philippines when she was 7 years old. They were documented, and her dad found a job opportunity in the U.S.

Her visa expired when she was about 12 years old; she, along with her family, stayed in the United States. She says they didn’t prioritize adjusting their resident status because of circumstances they were facing at the time.

When she started high school, Ledesma gradually became aware that she was undocumented. She couldn’t get a driver’s license and her options to go to college were limited.

When President Barack Obama’s administration announced DACA, Ledesma was right in the middle of a due process hearing before a judge, facing possible deportation.

She had ended up in court because she and some friends had traveled to San Diego and decided to stay at a military base where one of her friends’ father worked. As they were returning from a walk past midnight, authorities requested a form of ID. She showed them her passport from the Philippines, which had no visa.

“We were there for at least four hours,” Ledesma said. “They ended up calling the Border Patrol. I was detained in San Diego for two days and then they sent me, luckily here to Henderson, actually, for another 12 days.”

Ledesma already had an immigration attorney before the incident. She was out on bail and that's how she ended up before a judge facing deportation proceedings.

While Ledesma was going through this ordeal, the DACA program was announced and her lawyer recommended she apply for it. She did.

Thanks to the program, Ledesma was able to get her driver's license, a job and continue nursing school, a profession she loves.

“I wanted to work with kids,” Ledesma said. “A lot of them think I’m a kid too, so they can relate.”

Ledesma said she has always been aware that DACA is a permit that must be renewed, and that when hers expires in September 2019, she will need to return to the Philippines, where the majority of her family lives. She already has some money saved up for when she goes back.

“It’s gonna suck to start over and kind of see what I wanna do, ‘cause I honestly don’t think I would continue nursing if I have to go back,” Ledesma said.

Audrey Peral

Audrey Peral graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology from UNLV about a week ago and she also has another role that makes her proud: being mom to her 10-year-old son.

But the recent changes in federal immigration policy have cast a shadow over the happy moments in her life.

"I think about my son and my life and everything I could lose if DACA doesn’t move on the right track," said Peral, who is 29 years old and told her story publicly for the first time at a recent press conference organized by community activists in Las Vegas.

Peral’s parents already lived in the United States, but decided to go to Mexico to give birth to their daughter because hospital costs were so high in this country. The couple later returned to America with their baby.

Although her parents now have legal status, they have struggled to help their daughter obtain citizenship. Peral said she is currently in the process of legalizing her resident status through the VAWA  (Violence Against Women Act) visa program, which could allow immigrants who are victims of abuse to gain legal status; her lawyers advised her it was the best option in her case.

Though she isn’t covered by DACA, Peral said she considers herself a DREAMer. She has faith that Congress will reach a solution for undocumented immigrants and she will continue to fight so that people become aware of the contributions and achievements DREAMers have made.

“I’m proud of being Mexican, but that’s my heritage. I’m myself an American, and it’s a really difficult and confusing status to have because you feel so rejected from both countries, because at the end of the day you don’t belong.”

Azalea Peral, Audrey’s mom, spoke with The Nevada Independent En Espanol on Dec. 16, at the end of a simple ceremony acknowledging immigrant students at UNLV. Her daughter was among them.

She said it was sad to see programs such as DACA being canceled, because they promote education and benefit this country.

"I have paid every penny for my daughter to go to college and I am very proud of my children. We have never asked for food stamps or anything like that," Azalea Peral said. "We are not talking about people who drain the system.”