UPDATED: May 14, 2013, at 11:15 p.m.

Before she was accepted to Harvard, Emily seriously considered getting married. A high school friend had offered; he was an American citizen, and marriage would have provided her with a sure path to citizenship. However, Emily, a freshman at the College, is now hoping for another path to citizenship. Emily, whose name has been changed in order to protect her privacy, is one of the 11 million undocumented immigrants who would be affected by the new immigration proposal in Congress.

The bill would provide undocumented immigrants who arrived before 2011 with a 13-year process that would lead to legalization and eventually citizenship. It would provide a quicker path to citizenship for students like Emily, who would have qualified for the DREAM Act, a proposition from immigration reform that was voted down by the Senate in 2010. However, it also gives the opportunity for citizenship to their parents and other immigrants not encompassed in previous immigration proposals. For Emily, the bill’s passing would mean real, comprehensive immigration reform and security in her future here.

LIVING WITH UNCERTAINTY

Emily’s family came to the United States when she was six, largely for economic reasons. While she considers her family to be fairly well off, she said feels constant uncertainty about their future here. “One of my biggest worries is coming home from school and finding out that my parents were taken in a raid,” she said.

Deborah E. Anker, a clinical professor of law and director of the Harvard Law School Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, said one of the largest difficulties facing undocumented students here is “living with tremendous insecurity and uncertainty.”

This is a feeling that Emily knows only too well. Even though she has grown up in the United States, she says she lives with the fear that she will be forced to leave.

“There was a raid like two blocks down from where my dad worked once, so all these things are just always on your mind,” she said. “What happens if next time the raid is at my dad’s work? My whole life has been here. I can’t imagine going back and just starting a new life all over again.”

Emily has applied for and received DACA, a temporary two-year permit that allows her to live and work here. While it does give her some security, she said it still makes her feel unsure about her future. “I still don’t feel like a legal immigrant.”

Although Emily can renew DACA, it does not offer any permanent solutions. “What happens in two years, or in 4 years when Obama isn’t in office anymore? It depends on the administration if they want to keep up with it, and Romney was against it, so what makes me believe that another Republican won’t come and take it away?” she said.

Unlike DACA, the new proposal would allow Emily to stay here permanently as an American citizen. “My future would be more secure,” she said. There’s no chance of me going back to a country and having to learn everything all over again.

SHOULDERING THE RESPONSIBILITY

Like many teenagers, Emily plans to get her driver’s license. But unlike other teenagers, she may also obtain a mortgage. Emily’s parents cannot legally obtain a mortgage, but since Emily has DACA, they may be able to take out a mortgage under her name.

This is one of several responsibilities that Emily thinks will be eased if the new immigration bill passes. Unlike the DREAM Act, the new proposal would also give her parents the opportunity to become citizens, and would be able to legally take out their own mortgage.

Knowing that her parents would be able to legally stay in this country would give her a lot more peace of mind about being away from home. She said that one of the hardest things about being at college is worrying about something happening to her parents, and not being there to care of her two younger siblings.