DREAMers Seek Guidance and Hope

Immigrants attend a forum at a community center in Chelsea, north of Boston, Wednesday to learn about the new deferred action program launched by the Obama Administration. (Tanya Perez-Brennan)

Carlos Rojas, an 18-year-old teenager from Colombia, was one of many students who attended a forum in Chelsea, Mass. that focused on the new deferred action program. (Tanya Perez-Brennan)

Nationwide, roughly one million undocumented immigrants could benefit from the deferred action program launched by the Obama Administration, experts say. (Tanya Perez-Brennan)

Forums about the new deferred action program were held nationwide on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, the first day that immigration officials began accepting applications for the benefit, which would give eligible candidates a two-year reprieve from deportation, as well as a permit to work in the United States. (Tanya Perez-Brennan)

Undocumented immigrants who came as minors are hoping the deferred action program turns into a more permanent program, such as through a law like the DREAM Act, which would give them legal status as long as they meet criteria such as being enrolled in college or serving in the military, among other things. (Tanya Perez-Brennan)