It’s a day that devastated the community, creating an impact still felt today.

On May 12, 2008, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) swarmed the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville.

Federal officials detained 389 people, mostly from Mexico and Guatemala, suspected of being in the country illegally.

Officials bussed them to Waterloo, where they appeared before federal judges. Some were deported, others were allowed to stay under a variety of special circumstances.

Five years later, the city is on the path to recovery and looking to a brighter future.

Rolling into Postville, with its fewer than 2,500 people in the space of two square miles, the city seems like any other small eastern Iowa town.

A look down Lawler Street, however, with its Mexican restaurant, kosher grocery, Somali business, nearby Guatemalan store and more reveals why its slogan is “Hometown to the World.”

For a small community in a state where approximately nine out of every 10 residents are white, the Postville High School soccer team is remarkably diverse.

But months later, many immigrants are having vastly different reactions to the change depending on where they live, and they aren’t flocking to the program at the levels the government originally expected.

A handful of Republican-led states are blocking basic benefits for those in the program, denying beneficiaries identification cards, driver’s licenses, health care, in-state tuition, student financial aid, college admission or other privileges typically afforded to legal residents.

Others have set out welcome signs for the immigrants, including 12 that grant resident tuition for immigrants who graduated from local high schools.

The number of immigrants who signed up for the program has been smaller than envisioned.

RELATED: Deferred actioners will get driver’s licenses in California

In the first eight months of the program, about 450,000 applications have been accepted. The government originally estimated that 1 million would enroll in the first year. Experts say the numbers have been surprisingly low in states with large immigrant populations like Florida, New Jersey and Arizona, where about 16,000 people have taken advantage of the program.

Enrolling in a college or a university – a cornerstone of the new policy – hasn’t been easy either. With many states refusing to grant in-state tuition, immigrants who largely come from working-class families have to shell out upward of $40,000 a year to go to school – with no financial aid.

“It’s really hard that now you have all these doors that you feel are going to be open to you and the doors are still closed,” said Reyna Avila, a Phoenix college student who received a work permit and Social Security card under the policy, but still cannot drive to work or school without risking criminal charges.

RELATED: 10 tips from a lawyer on filing a successful deferred action application

In Michigan, high school senior Javier Contreras and his family considered moving to Illinois until his state came up with a solution allowing him to get a driver’s license. But because of his immigration status, he will have to pay the $20,000 for out-of-state tuition if he wants to attend his dream school, the University of Michigan.

Under the so-called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, more than 1 million immigrants are eligible for work permits good for two years with no limits on how many times they can be renewed. Qualified applicants must be 30 or younger, prove they arrived in the U.S. before they turned 16, have been living in the country at least five years and are in school or graduated or served in the military.

Immigrant advocates embraced the program when it was announced in June as a long-awaited, albeit temporary fix for young immigrants, many of whom were brought here as young children and grew up in America. Congress has failed for years to create a similar law in the form of the DREAM Act, so Obama bypassed the legislative process and implemented the change under the Department of Homeland Security.

RELATED: Arizona debates driver’s licenses for immigrants

Republican critics note the Obama policy was passed only after Congress failed multiple times to pass the DREAM Act and could soon be found unconstitutional in court because it extends legal rights to people who are not legally in the country.

“The Obama amnesty plan doesn’t make them legally here,” Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said shortly after the program was unveiled.

The creation of the program set off a flurry of activity in statehouses, governor’s offices and in the courts, giving young immigrants different impressions of the policy from state to state.

In Alabama, Florida, Idaho and dozens of other states, the young immigrants don’t qualify for resident tuition or financial aid. South Carolina and Georgia won’t let the students apply for admission to some public universities.

Republican leaders in Arizona and Nebraska refuse to grant the young people driver’s licenses, though the vast majority of states allow those in the program to legally drive. In North Carolina, lawmakers briefly considered issuing licenses with bright pink stripes and the words “NO LAWFUL STATUS” on them. Until last month, immigrants benefiting from the policy couldn’t get a state identification card in Michigan.

Some states have mixed policies, making it even more confusing for young people struggling to understand their new legal status. For example, in Arizona, some community colleges consider the immigrants lawful residents, but the state’s public university system does not.

In some cases, the change has added to the climate of fear that is present in many communities. A complaint was filed with a Phoenix community college system this week alleging that staff members were asking students about their parents’ immigration status.

A few states have embraced the immigrants. In Washington, the House of Representatives recently approved a measure making young immigrants eligible for state college financial aid. In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick announced in November that some children of immigrants living in the country illegally could attend public state colleges and universities at the in-state tuition rate, cutting costs by 50 percent or more.

Avila was reminded of what she was missing out on as an Arizona resident when she recently visited an aunt in Illinois who was able to obtain her driver’s license because of the Obama policy.

“She was showing it off to the family and it was like a slap in the face to me,” Avila recalled.

The lack of uniformity means young immigrants who move often for work or school experience shifting benefits.

Lucy Pinon is able to get a driver’s license in Idaho, where she attends college, but she can’t obtain an identification card in Arizona, where she has lived with her family since she was six years old. That means a relative has had to go with her and confirm that she is an Arizona resident when she applies for local jobs, she said.

“It’s like, `Oh you’re documented, but you are still undocumented,’” she said. “When I’m in Idaho things are fine and dandy, but Arizona is my home state.”

Civil rights advocates argue it’s unconstitutional under the federal equal protection clause for states to extend benefits to some immigrants with work permits but not others. They have challenged the Arizona ban on driver’s licenses in what is the first major legal battle over the policy change.

“The federal government without question gets to decide who is allowed to be in the country or not,” said Michael Tan, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project. “It’s not up to the states to make up their own rules.”

He and his family immigrated to California from Mexico when he was just 1 year old and moved to Sheboygan, Wis., a few years later, where his father got a job.

“I wanted to go to school, but if I got a degree from a college or technical school, how would I get a job without citizenship?” he told the Journal Sentinel. “I was scared. I was frozen. I didn’t know what to do.”

That’s when he started playing video games to pass the time.

“I was just vegging, but I was bored and getting depressed,” he said. “It was upsetting because I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. I was sick of it. I was waiting around hoping something would happen.”

Then last year, President Barack Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which would allow people who came here before they were 16 and under 31 on June 15, 2012, the chance to stay in the U.S. for two years to work and go to school without fear of deportation.

RELATED: 200,000 undocumented immigrants apply for deferred action, says Napolitano

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Muñoz. “I was shocked. I thought now I have a chance.”

Right away, he went to see an attorney who told him he met all the requirements for deferred action, however he had one problem. He had to prove his residency in the U.S. since June 2007. Since he graduated high school in 2005, lived with his parents, and didn’t have a work or medical record, he didn’t know how to prove his existence in the U.S.

“What matters most is that he’s been here since age 1,” says his lawyer, Davorin Odrcic. “He deserves to be here.”

Odrcic says that while talking with Muñoz,  they realized they both loved video games. A light bulb went off for Odrcic that Muñoz might have a record of the games he’s purchased since 2007.

Muñoz did in fact have an Xbox Live account where he bought games since 2007, and he sent the proof of his address and account information to Odrcic.

“I thought I had a 50-50 chance,” Muñoz told the Journal Sentinel.

Two months later, Muñoz finally received the letter granting him deferred status.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “It took a couple of days for me to realize how big this was. My older sister cried.”

RELATED: Undocumented youth starting to receive licenses under deferred action program

He now has a driver’s license, was able to buy a car, and most importantly, he can work. According to Odrcic, Muñoz is now hard to track down, because he now has two jobs — at a factory and a restaurant.

“I work seven days a week, but that’s OK, because I’m saving money to go to school and help my family,” said Muñoz who wants to study marketing, computers or sports journalism. “After all that time that I was so bored, now I don’t like having a day off. I’ve had enough days off…I can finally do what I want to do because nothing is holding me back.”

The state learned that such licenses are easier and more efficient to produce if they’re similar to the traditional licenses issued to other drivers, said spokesman Mike Charbonneau at the state Transportation Department.

“My understanding is that when we’re looking at that design, at the end of the day, we had to make sure we were following the letter of the law in the most efficient way possible,” Charbonneau said.

In place of the proposed pink-striped design, the license is to look like the regular license issued to citizens save for words added in bold red letters: “”LEGAL PRESENCE / NO LAWFUL STATUS” and “LIMITED TERM.”

The controversial original proposal also had included the phrase “NO LAWFUL STATUS.”

The state will begin issuing the licenses Monday to young adults participating in the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The Obama administration initiative grants valid federal work permits to qualified applicants brought as children to the U.S. without legal authorization.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Hispanic groups and others had criticized the pink-striped design proposal as singling out holders of that identification for possible discrimination and humiliation.

Jewish leaders also joined the outcry. Four rabbis had earlier made plans to hand-deliver a letter Friday to Gov. Pat McCrory asking him to scrap the pink-striped design. They said they would still deliver the letter anyway. It was signed by more than 70 Jewish leaders nationwide.

“Our efforts do not end when major discrimination turns into minor discrimination; it ends when we are 100 percent positive that discriminatory policies will not go into effect in our state,” said Rabbi Eric Solomon of Raleigh’s Beth Meyer Synagogue.

They said they were especially disturbed that the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles would begin issuing the licenses Monday, eve of the Jewish holiday Passover.

The state Attorney’s General Office had said in January that state law requires the state to issue drivers’ licenses to qualified applicants brought to the U.S. as children without legal authorization. State transportation officials had said they would abide by that decision, then unveiled the specially designed licenses.

McCrory had previously supported pink-striped licenses, saying in February that he signed off on what he called the “pragmatic compromise” unveiled by Transportation Secretary Tony Tata. McCrory had said the licenses must be clearly marked to prevent the bearer from accessing government services or registering to vote.

A McCrory spokeswoman said Thursday the governor supports the new design.

Raul Pinto, staff attorney with the North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the official decision to adopt a standard blue-striped license was “a huge step in the right direction.”

But Pinto said his group still opposes the “NO LAWFUL STATUS” tag on the licenses and will keep monitoring whether it’s “going to affect people in their everyday lives.”

Democratic state Rep. Rick Glazier, who opposed the pink-striped design by co-sponsoring a bill against it in the General Assembly, said the pressure of public opinion appeared to be a factor in the change of plans.

The pink-striped license was “inherently discriminatory on its face” and would have humiliated any holder, Glazier added.

The Division of Motor Vehicles sent out a news release about plans to begin issuing the licenses starting Monday, but without mentioning the decision in the release. The design change was only evident in an attachment to the emailed release.

Jose Torres-Don, 25, of Carrboro, who is applying for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, said he didn’t really care about the style or color of the driver’s license he receives.

A member of the NC Dream Team – a group that advocates for young people brought to the U.S. unlawfully and seeking a path to citizenship – Torres-Don said he just hopes the license uproar brings favorable attention to the plight of young people seeking proper documentation.

“What we ultimately seek is to drive without fear,” he said. “We want to have a real conversation about how (being) undocumented is a problem.”

“I’ve pledged allegiance to the flag since the fourth grade,” says Aguilar, who is 24 and undocumented.

Although he says he feels American, it hasn’t been easy. Aguilar is one of millions whose parents brought him to a new country for a better life, but without papers, it was often a segregated life.

“All through high school, I knew I was undocumented, but I really didn’t know what it meant beyond crossing the border,” says Aguilar. “It wasn’t until sophomore year that I realized how it would keep me from getting a driver’s license, go on dates…I couldn’t live a simple life like go to an R-rated movie, because I needed to prove I was 17. All of my friends would go in, and I couldn’t…”

He says the only people that knew of his status were his close friends, and most of the time he would have to make something up, like he didn’t have money. When he graduated high school, he started feeling hopeless after being denied his lifelong dream to join the U.S. Marines, because he didn’t have a social security number. Aguilar was about to go back to Mexico when a friend told him he could go to community college. He got accepted to Northwest Arkansas Community College in 2008, where he studied nursing.

“I even got an award in nursing excellence — which only goes to one person…but in the end, it didn’t help me, because without a social security number, I couldn’t take my board exams,” says Aguilar. “So for two years I’ve just been mowing lawns, and doing random jobs, when I could be saving lives and doing something I went to school for.”

Cesar Vargas, a 29-year-old law school graduate from New York City, is in the same predicament. He has a law degree, but is unable to obtain a license in order to practice what he studied.

“I want to be a military lawyer, and I cannot, because I’m lacking citizenship,” says Vargas, who came to the states from Mexico at age 5. “I want to serve the country — I consider myself an American…It means what my mom is — being a hard worker and doing everything to fulfill the American dream for your family.”

Since Vargas graduated law school in 2011, he hasn’t wasted any time. He says he started a group called the Dream Action Coalition, made up of other undocumented individuals. They speak with government officials about what people on the ground want, which is comprehensive immigration reform. Today, he says he was in Washington, meeting with Senator Chuck Schumer.

After listening to the president’s speech today, however, he says he was somewhat disappointed.

“It’s pretty much the same speech again,” says Vargas, who has been closely listening to the president the past four years. “I think the most important thing that really stood out is that immigration is not about policy, but people…if he’s serious about that, he needs to take his own advice…because to him it may be numbers, but those are real people with real families.”

Robert G. Gonzales, assistant professor and sociologist at the University of Chicago, has been finishing a decade-long project following undocumented young adults. He says he feels this year, the U.S. seems to be in the best position to pass a bill.

“It’s certainly the most favorable alignment of politics and policy right now, but as many have been saying, this is more than policy it’s about people,” says Dr. Gonzales. “By passing some form of reform and a pathway to legalization, we would be in a very good position to immediately move a group of young people into opportunities that will allow them to actualize their investments and make greater contributions to their families, communities, and to our broader economy and society.”

Aguilar is feeling a bit more hopeful these days. Because of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, he got a social security number about a month ago.

“I got my work permit…I finally have a driver’s license,” he says. “I’m hoping in a couple of weeks to have a job as a nurse…Nursing is my calling, and that’s what I want to do…I also want to start some kind of health assistance for kids, giving free exams and checkups, but I’m studying for boards right now.”

Earlier this week, California opened their financial aid application to qualified undocumented students applying to college and officials are anticipating around 20,000 applicants. New York is now considering similar financial aid legislation.

New bills are on the table in Colorado, Florida and New Jersey to offer in-state tuition for undocumented students and, if passed, the states would join thirteen others offering in-state rates.

Some state lawmakers say most Americans support greater access to higher education for undocumented students and Congress is behind the curve.

“That train has left the station, everybody understands that we need to,” says New York State Senator Adriano Espaillat,  sponsor of legislation included in a new comprehensive bill that offers state aid and private contributions for undocumented students in New York. “In many cases, these students are denied access to an education because they don’t have the money to pay for it on their own.”

The College Board estimates approximately 65,000  undocumented students graduate from high school each year and confront financial barriers when applying to college.

Antonio Alarcón, a journalism student at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, New York, says he was turned down for a full scholarship because he has no Social Security number. “I was part of the student government, captain of the volleyball team, and involved in community service,” he said. “It was a hard moment for me to know I couldn’t apply for government aid.”

Alarcón’s parents entered the country illegally when he was six years old, and returned to Mexico for work, leaving him to complete elementary, middle and high school in the United States under the care of his grandmother. “We all deserve the same rights,” the 18-year-old said. “We’re not treated the same as other communities.”

The Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy has led many students like Alarcón to pursue college because they know they can stay in the country and are permitted to work without threat of deportation. As of January 2013,  over 150,000 undocumented youths have received relief under the program.

“It makes sense that public funds be invested,” says Dr. Antonio Flores, president of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. “Many of those coming out with degrees are in high demand in STEM fields. They would help the economy. It’s in the best interest of communities to allow their own people to excel.”

But some experts say these states are unfairly burdening other students and their families.

“They’re making college more expensive for their own citizens,” says Hans von Spakovsky, Manager of Civil Justice Reform at the Heritage Foundation. “They are basically subsidizing education through their taxes to people who are here illegally.”

States that make the switch to in-state tuition lose out on approximately $20,000 per student. The average cost of attending a public four-year college for in-state students in 2012 was $8,655 and $21,7006 for out-of-state students, according to the College Board.

Spakovsky adds that, in the interest of fairness, if states offer in-state tuition for undocumented students they should then offer similar rates to out-of-state students.

(Image courtesy of Zaina Natour)

In 1996, undocumented students were given the right to attend private and public colleges but it was left up to the states to decide if students were eligible for in-state residency and tuition rates.

Most states have made no move to craft laws that count undocumented students as in-state residents but thirteen have — Utah, New York, Washington, Oklahoma, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Texas, New Mexico and California.

Three states–Texas, New Mexico, and, this month, California– offer financial aid in addition to lower rates.

RELATED: Funding the Dream: Organizations around the country help DREAMers with deferred action fees

Some states–Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina– have taken federal law one step further and adopted statutes or regulations that explicitly bar undocumented students from in-state tuition rates. (Colorado legislators have proposed a bill this year offering in-state tuition rates.)

South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia outlaw undocumented students from enrolling in public institutions within their state altogether.

RELATED: Montana state lawmaker proposes bill to keep undocumented immigrants out

Action at the state level may not be enough to address a nationwide issue, says adjunct Professor Stephen Yale-Loehr, adjunct professor at Cornell Law School.

“Many of these students came at an early age and had no say in coming to the United States,” says Yale-Loehr. “As a practical matter we’re never going to deport them.  Congress has to address comprehensive immigration reform.”

Erika Andiola is a founder of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition, a group of young immigrants who advocate giving legal status to people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Sinema’s office announced Andiola’s hiring Wednesday.

Andiola entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico but has work authorization for two years by way of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the deportation-relief offered by President Barack Obama to immigrants eligible for the Dream Act.

Andiola was in the news last week when federal immigration officers arrested her mother and brother at the family’s home in suburban Phoenix. They were later released after a national outcry from immigration reform advocates.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials insist the two weren’t targeted because of Andiola’s activism.

Andiola said ICE agents told her there was a long-pending deportation order for her mother. Her brother was detained for refusing to answer agents’ questions.

Last July, Andiola drew national attention when U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, a main proponent of the Dream Act, held up a large color poster of her on the Senate floor while describing how she graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Arizona State University.

Sinema, a Democrat, is in her first year in office after winning the new Phoenix-area 9th District in November.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-Illinois, announced he was hiring Jose M. Quintero as an employee in his district office in Chicago.

Gutierrez said Quintero, who was born in Mexico and came to Chicago with his parents at age 6, was the first young immigrant in Illinois to receive work authorization via Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. He received work authorization and his official two-year reprieve from deportation in October.

Gutierrez said he plans to hire an additional recipient of deferred-action status for his office in Cicero in the coming weeks.

Rubio has recently begun to make noise about ideas for immigration reform he will unveil, saying in a recent Wall Street Journal interview that the U.S. needs to “modernize” legal immigration.

“We hope that it signals a change in the Republican approach to this issue,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Tuesday.

While President Obama on Monday said his administration will announce gun control plans in the coming days, Carney insisted that immigration reform is a “high priority”.

“There is no question that as we move forward with immigration reform — comprehensive immigration reform — that it will involve engagement with Democrats and Republicans, and you can expect that will happen,” Carney said. “Again, to my knowledge, Senator Rubio has yet to put anything on paper or draw up any legislation. We welcome reports of his positions and look forward to working with him and other Republicans in pursuit of comprehensive immigration reform because it’s the right thing to do for the country, and the president considers it a high priority.”

RELATED: Winds of 2016? Marco Rubio heading to Iowa

Andiola answered the door and found Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who asked her where her mother was. The agents removed Maria Arreola, 54, and Erika’s brother who would not answer questions from agents.

“They showed up without a warrant and asked for my mother,” Andiola told NBC Latino, through tears. “They asked my brother for things but he didn’t want to ask questions so they took him. But he was released this morning and he’s here with me now.”

Andiola’s biggest fear was that her mother would be removed from the country because she was taken from the detention center in Phoenix to the one in Florence, which is often the step before deportation. But Barbara Gonzalez, ICE press secretary confirms that removal has been stayed and Arreola will be released imminently.

RELATED: Immigrant women’s groups condemn bill to deny birth citizenship

“One of two individuals detained by ICE in Phoenix, AZ has been released. The other individual will be released imminently. Although one individual had been previously removed from the country, an initial review of these cases revealed that certain factors outlined in ICE’s prosecutorial discretion policy appear to be present and merit an exercise of discretion. A fuller review of the cases is currently on-going. ICE exercises prosecutorial discretion on a case-by-case basis, considering the totality of the circumstances in an individual case.”

ICE says it did not target the relatives of Andiola because of her role with the Dream Act Coalition. She says ICE agents said there was a long-pending deportation order for her mother but that she questions whether that actually prompted the arrest.

David Leopold, the former national president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and current general counsel for the organization, says he saw news of Arreola’s removal on Facebook and Twitter, where a petition was started and organizations like United We Dream took to spreading the news using the #WeAreAndiola hashtag and #SomosAndiola. Leopold contacted lawyers in Washington D.C., who he says moved the information up the chain, where he eventually learned ICE would be holding off on deportation.

“Sometimes one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing,” he said of having to make people aware of ICE’s actions. “I would like to think there are far better ways to spend the tax dollars of the American people than removing somebody’s mother. This is a case that called for discretion.”

But Leopold says once again Facebook and Twitter show how much they can accomplish.

“It shows you the power of social media,” he says. “The daughter is a very prominent dreamer so it makes sense. But this is what happens day in and day out and many people are being removed who don’t have the advantage of social media or of being well-known.

Andiola spoke about how she feels now that he mother is being released.

“It makes me extremely happy to know my mom is on her way home but it makes me extremely sad to know we have to get thousands of people involved to stop one deportation,” she said, with emotion in her voice.

“I’ve never gone through this on a personal level. To see my mother and my brother taken from me  – I am never going to forget that and never going to stop fighting this. We want president Obama to keep his word on immigration reform.”

RELATED: Some undocumented immigrants afraid of going for Illinois driver’s licenses

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that the “final rule” reduces the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives (spouse, children and parents), who are in the process of obtaining visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States under certain circumstances.

“The law is designed to avoid extreme hardship to U.S. citizens, which is precisely what this rule achieves,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Mayorkas said. “The change will have a significant impact on American families by greatly reducing the time family members are separated from those they rely upon.”

The rule creates a waiver that bypasses an arcane Catch-22 in immigration law, The New York Times reports.  It had presented Americans with the prospect of being separated for up to a decade from immigrant spouses, children or parents who were applying for the legal documents known as green cards.

RELATED: The Latino vote, 47 percent and papayas: The most memorable political stories of 2012

The policy change was actually announced in April 2012, but the USCIS received 4,000 comments on the proposed changes and made revisions before announcing the final rule.

In order to obtain a provisional unlawful presence waiver, the applicant must be an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, inadmissible only on account of unlawful presence, and demonstrate the denial of the waiver would result in extreme hardship to his or her U.S. citizen spouse or parent, according to a Department of Homeland Security statement.

The rule was put in place after the government received about 23,000 hardship applications in 2011 and more than 70 percent were approved, the Associated Press reported.

Once approved, applicants would be required to leave the U.S. briefly in order to return to their native country and pick up their visa. But where previously some had waited up to ten years, now a family’s time apart could be reduced to one week in some cases.

The change is the latest move by the administration to use its executive powers to revise immigration procedures without Congress passing a law. As the election ramped up in August, the Obama administration announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which halts the deportation of undocumented youth brought to the U.S. unlawfully as children.