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Biden administration challenges Texas ruling making DACA unlawful

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The Biden administration is challenging a ruling by a Texas judge that made the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program illegal.

The Texas judge’s ruling in July has effectively put the DACA program on hold, banning the government from accepting any new applications while the case is being litigated.

RELATED: Biden pledges appeal of 'deeply disappointing' DACA ruling

Juanita Alvarez, who has been a Dreamer since April 2014, has lived in Brownsville since she was three years old.

Alvarez says she remembers it was during a field trip in middle school when she found out she was undocumented.

"My mom told me, ‘You can't go. ‘Well what do you mean I can't go? ‘Well you have to cross a checkpoint and you're not going to be able to do that because you don't have documents,’” Alvarez said.

Alvarez said she was confused because she thought she was born in the U.S. She would soon find out there were limits as to what she could do, compared to some of her friends.

READ ALSO: 'It's really tough': DACA recipients worry about uncertainty of program  

Local immigration attorney Ricardo Ramirez believes there should be a more secure path to citizenship and actual laws put in place, not just a program with an uncertain future.

"Not just executive actions, but laws that will protect and dictate how these can remain, work and live in the United States,” Ramirez said.

For Alvarez, the program offers a sense of security, even with the future up in the air.

"At the same time, it's not promised for tomorrow. So, I just renewed and, thankfully, I just got the notification that it was approved for another two years," Alvarez said. "But it's like, ok, after two years what's going to happen? Between now and then, what are they going to decide to do? Am I going to be able to renew in two years?"

READ ALSO: Valley nonprofit protests latest DACA ruling  

Alvarez says she dreams of visiting Mexico so that she can see where she is from and visit the family that she has only met through Facebook.

The latest figures from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shows there are more than 600,000 active DACA recipients in the United States, a number that remains frozen while the case goes through the courts.

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