Interesting question being posed here.

For those saying that Obama was our only ally, remember he is also considered the deporter in chief, under his presidency more people have been deported and under the presidency of every other president in the history of the United States combined.

And more incredible he did it while also supporting undocumented youth, it does not deter the fact he created a deportation and incarceration machine when he proposed a 400,000 deportation per year quota. That quota expanded DHS and ICE capabilities to hold people in indefinite detention and larger generated wealth for privatized detention centers like GEO which is a multi-billion dollar industry now.

They exist because priority is set on deporting criminal immigrants but people are now essentially warehoused sometimes years at a time without access to any lawyers or contact with the outside world to try and meet the 400,000 deportation quota.

DACA was not something that Obama just passed out of the goodness of his heart, I was involved in actions in that same time period, when he made that announcement undocumented youth where doing civil disobedience actions in different OFA (Obama for America) offices nationwide. In an election year it created a threat for Obama, he appeared in support for undocumented people and youth in particularly, but something like this getting out to general media would have been dangerous because it would have exposed the reality of what was going on. DACA with the age cap because a tool everyone accepted but it secretly created a divide and conquer situation. Older undocumented youth where left with no path, and younger youth got a path which allowed them to move on with their lives, and in-group fighting developed on what priorities needed to be set. I was a member of an undocumented youth led group, the group no longer exists on account that youth no longer existed to keep the fight moving, and the ones that where in there gained sufficient experience to be hired in other non-profits nationwide moving them to different parts. (I have to be truthful here, I fall into this category).

Republicans on the other hand have vehemently promised much worse, while making racist and culturally biased remarks against different populations. They have denigrated black and brown communities as being inferior.

It gives the impression we are between a rock and a hard place.

I choose neither, and think the best we can do is take the lessons that made DACA possible and unite appealing directly with the people that vote and taking control over media's perception of undocumented youth. That was the whole reason for the coming out of the shadows events, to take ownership over our own stories in public media away from politicians and media who did not understand what we went through.