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On his first day in office President Joe Biden gave Christian Martinez, and 650,000 others like him living in the U.S., a little space to breathe.

Through an executive order, the newly inaugurated president directed the Department of Homeland Security to preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The order solidified the reversal of a much challenged decision by the Trump administration to attempt to end the program in 2017.

Biden has since announced plans for more sweeping immigration reform policies that could see a pathway to citizenship for some 11 million people living without legal status in the U.S.

WASHINGTON>> It's taken only days for Democrats gauging how far President Joe Biden's bold immigration proposal can go in Congress to ac

Its a new ray of hope for the 20-year-old Martinez, who is among 5,250 other young people in Michigan shielded from deportation and allowed to legally work under the DACA program, according to the American Immigration Council. He and his parents, who moved from Mexico when he was three, live in Waterford with his two younger siblings, who were born in the U.S.

Throughout the Trump administration we had so many worries. I was constantly thinking about what I could do to take care of my siblings if my parents had been taken away, Martinez said. In the neighborhood where I live, week after week, we would see heads of families taken away and I always gave God thanks that my dad wasnt one of them.

Martinez was in his last year of high school in the Waterford School District when Trump first tried to overturn the program. He was just months away from going through his first renewal process to keep his status active. At the time, he worried it would be his last.

Christian Martinez was just three-years-old when he came to the United States.

While the federal government did continue to accept renewals for the DACA program, new applications were halted. The first new applications to be approved in several years were announced in early January, according to the Associated Press. A total of 171 new applications were approved from Nov. 14 to the end of 2020. More than 2,700 people applied.

NEW YORK>> The Trump administration must accept new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects so

Yumana Dubaisi, an immigration attorney and director of the Immigration Legal Department at the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit, said her organization has seen a wave of new potential DACA applicants in recent weeks. The institute offers low cost and free immigration services to the southeast Michigan region.

People who didnt have the chance to apply before can apply now and thats a big win, Dubaisi said. People in these communities have lived in fear of the unknown and changed the way they lived their lives because of it. Theres constant fear of family separation, from being caught up in anything, like a misdemeanor.

The Trump administrations attempt to close down DACA was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal judges over the course of three years. Ultimately, the nations highest court ruled that the program wasnt ended properly followed by a federal judges ruling to completely restore the program in December 2020. That same month however, new legal challenges to DACA appeared in a federal court in Texas as nine states asked to end the program claiming it was unconstitutional. There was no immediate ruling for the case.

PHOENIX (AP) The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the program that protects immigrants who were brought to the country as children and allows t

Were hoping that this immigration reform will pass, and if its approved by Congress, the chances of these lawsuits and the potential of more lawsuits will be minimized to nonexistent, Dubaisi said. Were hoping that congress will take care of these 11 million people. I cannot begin to express the fear many of these kids have had, of being deported, of being separated from their families.

Dubaisi calls the potential new immigration reforms aimed at providing citizenship as long overdue. For Martinez, that sentiment can be felt in the apprehension underneath the new hope of DACAs comeback.

Were excited about DACA, but were anxious too. When I see my friends that are natural citizens can come and go wherever they want, I feel like theres a barrier between us, Martinez said. My mom really wants to be able to go to the grocery store or appointments by herself, instead of me having to leave work to drive her.

Christian Martinez, 20 of Waterford, poses for a photo in Clarkston after working his construction job.

More than anything else, he said, Martinez just wants the opportunity to actually visit the country hes been afraid he and his family could be deported to. Hes lost family in Mexico to the coronavirus pandemic, as have his other DACA recipient friends. His siblings have never crossed the border. They have an older brother, 24, who theyve never met and who Martinez hasnt seen in 16 years.

All of my DACA friends are excited, and happy. Were all really hoping well be able to travel soon, to at least see our family members tombstones, Martinez said.

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With hope and apprehension, DACAs Dreamers look to new era of immigration policy - The Oakland Press