Protesters urge support for President Biden's immigration reform bill at a January 27 rally in Washington.
(CNN) -
Luis Tapia would finally get a driver's license.
Marilú Saldaña would visit her mother in Mexico before it is too late.
Karina Ruiz De Diaz would register to vote, something she has helped thousands of people do, but never had the opportunity to do it herself.
They are among the undocumented immigrants President Joe Biden has pledged to help with a new bill that is pressuring Congress to pass.
The measure would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million people who have lived in limbo for years.
Undocumented immigrants from across the country told CNN they hope the president will keep his promise.
LOOK: Biden has presented the most ambitious and progressive immigration bill since 1986, according to a lawyer
They shared their fears about the safety of their families, dreams for their future, and concerns they have about whether politicians in Washington will really protect them.
Your responses have been edited for length and clarity.
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Says getting driver's licenses would be a game changer for your family
Luis Tapia says that he worries about his parents every time they go to work.
Luis Tapia, 19 • Cook • Lives in: Wisconsin • Country of origin: Mexico
«I am applying to DACA right now.
It would be great if there was also protection for my parents, so that they would no longer be afraid of being in this country, afraid of going out to the street or to the supermarket, that they could be detained without a license.
It is the terror with which we have always lived.
We came here when I was less than 1 year old.
It wasn't until the deportations started under the Obama administration that they told me I don't have papers, then I realized that at any moment the police could stop us and send us back to a country that I don't even know.
«My father is a cook and my mother is a preparation cook.
Whenever they go to work, they are 30 minutes of fear without knowing if they are going to stop them.
We are terrified during this time that something will happen to them.
We always text each other saying we are getting somewhere safely or getting home.
“We will see what happens in the next three months.
We never know if something is going to change for our families and if the changes will help us or create more fear for us.
I hope it helps our family stay together and protected.
“The first thing we would do is get our driver's licenses to be able to drive wherever we want in this country and not have any problems.
That's something we've always wanted, to be able to go to another state or another place without being scared. "
He worries that his parents will never be able to rest
Gio Harn Choi, shown here leading a protest march in 2019, says years of physical labor have taken their toll on his mother.
Glo Harn Choi, 28 • Community organizer • Lives in: Illinois • Country of origin: South Korea
“If the immigration bill that President Biden is proposing passes as it currently stands, that would put me on the path of applying for a green card and then citizenship.
But I think for me what stands out particularly is the time frame for that.
«I have had to work since I was 15 years old to support our family financially.
I worked in hospitality, as a waiter, busboy, host, bartender, dishwasher, delivery driver, and then I also worked as a painter.
And sometimes as a photographer.
That is difficult, especially when you are a young boy.
You see all your friends, many of them who simply want to live their youth.
And I think a lot about how I wish I could have done that too.
But what really stands out is that my parents' age is catching up with them.
My mom works in hospitality.
She is a provider.
Every time I see her, I can see how that physical work is really weighing on her.
I work with people who are roughly the same age as my mother, and my mother seems much older than her contemporaries because of the amount of work she has to do.
«So the schedule of this [bill], what it means for me is that I don't know if my mother has eight years left to rest, to be able to retire, which I think is a right of all people to be able to rest after dedicating his entire life to survive.
I don't want her to just live to survive.
“[As for what I would do if I became a citizen], it's a thought I've had to suppress for so long because for so long there simply wasn't a way.
Actually, it was about survival.
It's hard to think about those kinds of things when you're really focused on not dying.
“I would love to be able to travel to Korea.
I would love to be able to see and explore some of my roots, because I have never had that opportunity.
I lost a lot of myself for something as insignificant as the idea of legal status.
She is ready to register to vote and one day return to the career she left behind
Karina Ruiz De Diaz, executive director of the Arizona Dream Act Coaliton, traveled with a group to Washington for Biden's inauguration to push for immigration to remain at the helm of his presidency.
Karina Ruiz De Diaz, 36 • Executive director of a non-profit organization • Lives in: Arizona • Country of origin: Mexico
The first thing I would do is register to vote.
I have helped so many people register to vote in the last five years, I lost count.
They are more than 1,000 or 2,000 people, because I wanted them to be a voice for me.
I wanted them to understand the power they have to decide who represents them.
“I have felt voiceless because in Arizona voters passed a law that says I have to show proof of legal residency for state registration.
Because of that law, it took me 12 years to graduate from college with a degree in biochemistry that I am not pursuing at the moment.
I'm not working in my field because I have to put up this fight.
My life and the lives of people like me who qualified for DACA, and people who did not, were on the line for the last four years.
This fight became a priority.
«I dream of returning to my field one day.
I want to teach science.
I want to do research.
When I am a citizen, I could do that again, knowing that I have grown up with leaders in the community who can continue the work of the nonprofit. "
He has waited in limbo for decades and wants to see the world
Author and filmmaker José Antonio Vargas has traveled throughout the country sharing his story as an undocumented immigrant.
José Antonio Vargas, 39 • Founder of a non-profit organization • Lives in: California • Country of origin: Philippines
«This bill is absolutely welcome.
But I'm not naive either, I know that it will be very difficult to pass this legislation.
It's an uphill climb, but this is a really good start.
The government has drawn a line in the sand.
"The people I meet for the first time, wherever I am, in Mississippi, Wisconsin or Iowa, the number one question they always ask me is, 'Why aren't they legalized?'
It never ceased to amaze me how people don't understand immigration as a process.
The Biden / Harris administration is making it very clear that we do this process for the people.
People like me have not been able to adjust their status because it was not a process.
“I can't wait to have an American passport and be able to see the world.
I would go to the Philippines and see my mother.
It's hard to live a life when you don't know when you can live it fully.
This process is something I have waited for decades and have met people in their 50s and 60s who have waited for decades.
Today I thought of this man I met years ago in Oklahoma.
He was 48 years old and had worked in construction and restaurants.
He wrote to me and said: 'I have been here for 25 years and I really want to know more about my country.
I want to visit New York, Las Vegas, Orlando, Hollywood.
But I'm afraid to go to the airport because I don't have documents. '
He's not just a worker, he's an American, he just doesn't have any documents.
And he said: 'I hope that one day we can fix our situation and get to know my country.'
When I hear about this bill, I think of people like him.
He wants his mother to meet his children
Marilú Saldaña, pictured here protesting rent relief during the pandemic, hopes Biden's immigration bill will help her family.
Marilú Saldaña, 29 • Servant • Lives in: Pennsylvania • Country of origin: Mexico
“A path to citizenship would be wonderful for me.
The first thing I would do is go visit my mom who I haven't seen in 15 years.
It's very sad because we've both gone through difficult times.
I've been really sick.
She has been really sick and I have not been able to help her.
He has not been able to meet my children, his grandchildren.
I'm so scared that one day she just isn't in this world anymore, and I couldn't even see her again.
I have two sons who are US citizens.
Right now I'm working to get my GED because when my dad was deported [14 years ago] I had to drop out of school because I didn't have enough money to pay my rent and utilities.
My biggest goal here is to be able to go to college.
I want to be a nurse.
That is all I have in mind.
I want to show my children that no matter where you come from, you can still make something of yourself.
“I don't want to get too excited [about the bill] and be heartbroken again because nothing happened.
But I feel like my mom is getting old.
I am getting old too.
I just feel like I'm running out of time.
You want to feel safe when you go out
Morelys, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect her family, says she is afraid of the police and tries to avoid them.
Morelys, 19 • High school senior • Lives in: Maryland • Country of origin: Dominican Republic
“When we arrived in this country, I knew I was going to be undocumented, but I didn't know what that meant: how they treat us, not being able to get health insurance.
Everything about the medical system sometimes seems so unfair.
We had to deal with covid in our house.
My mom was really, really bad at one point.
I couldn't even breathe.
But he refused to go to the hospital, because we knew what that meant.
I knew we couldn't afford it.
"I want to go to the university.
But as an undocumented immigrant who doesn't even have DACA, many of the scholarships out there for undocumented students don't even apply to me.
I feel very limited in everything I want to do.
And I feel like this bill could help with that, and also with the fear that I have every day.
Every time I leave my house, I feel like I will be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It would be a relief for me to just go out and be treated with the dignity that I deserve as a human being, this is basically how my life will change if this happens.
“Besides being an immigrant, I am a black woman in this country.
I am afraid of the police and try to avoid them.
I have never been in situations where there are many people in the same place, because I feel that if something happens, things can get out of control.
Nor do I travel long distances.
I have family in Miami and I have never been to see them.
Because even if I take a long drive in the car, I feel like at some point I can be stopped and the police can give my information to ICE.
At school, whenever there's a field trip or something and I feel like it will be somewhere near federal buildings, I try not to go.
That's how scared I am.
He lived the last three years in a church.
Now pray for Biden's plan
José Chicas prays with his family as he leaves the sanctuary.
For more than three years he lived on the grounds of Saint Johns Missionary Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina.
José Chicas, 55 • Pastor / business owner • Lives in: North Carolina • Country of origin: El Salvador
“There is great hope that he [Biden] will help us, millions of families.
But we still have to wait and see what will happen.
“I have lived in this country for 35 years.
Not having this protection has affected us in all aspects of our lives.
This would make a big difference.
With permanent residence you can leave the country and go to any other country and return.
And with citizenship, it is even better, because you can have a voice and vote in this nation.
If I had that, I would help people who need help.
I would like to vote to be able to support the people who need it.