It was a difficult three-day walk for 9-year-old Rubi Sanchez and her family as they escaped life from Mexico because of the presence of drug cartels in their state.

Now 19 years old, Sanchez recounted her life as an immigrant and recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, initiated by President Barack Obama in 2012. Sanchez is a computer science student at Heartland Community College in Illinois and works six hours a day for a cleaning company to pay for her education. She has devoted herself to the Illinois People's Action (IPA) ecumenical and faith-based organization, whose mission to advocate justice in the local community.

"It was a hot journey," Sanchez noted of her 2005 trek to the U.S. "The first second night we were sleeping, and when we heard border patrol, everybody started running. Everybody ran different ways, my mother and siblings hid under a tree where we thought we were going to get caught, but we didn't."

With her mother and younger siblings, Sanchez said they were left with two other people in the desert. Her father has been in the U.S. since 2003.

"We kept walking until we found a town for our luck," Sanchez said. "It was a scary journey; it's sad how much things you see along the way."

Sanchez said one of the primary reasons for leaving Mexico were the drug cartels that "flooded" her state. She said, "The life there seemed to get difficult every day."

Sanchez expressed her gratitude for her life in the U.S. She said she doesn't think it would have been possible for her to be in school and to focus on her career because of the "horrible situation" in her area of Mexico.

When Obama signed DACA in 2012, Sanchez said she felt relieved, explaining, "I could now contribute to my family and also to the country I have known as my home. Many doors were now opened for my future. I was able to go to college, work, and drive without being scared."

"I think Congress not passing legislation DACA makes me upset. For the simple answer that at any minute they could not let us renew and that would make every DREAMER go back to the shadows where we have decided to come out. All those doors that at one point were opened for us, they could close," Sanchez said.

Developments this year, however, have heightened the topic of immigration in the U.S. Sanchez shared the same sentiments as many individuals and lawmakers that the current immigration system is "broken." Sanchez noted more than 1,100 people are deported every day and two million have been deported since Obama took office in 2009.

"In those people, there have been our brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers," Sanchez said, noting one of the deportees was her father.

In early August, House Republicans proposed legislation to end DACA, which has allowed over 550,000 undocumented immigrant youths to stay in the U.S. The legislation passed the House of Representatives along close party lines.

"In my opinion, there are more job opportunities open for anybody ever since DACA was signed. I don't think it is necessary to end DACA. Us DREAMERs want to have an opportunity just like our classmates and those who were born here. We grew up knowing this country as ours and we want to contribute to the greatness of the United States of America," Sanchez said.

Sanchez wants lawmakers who want to end DACA to "take a moment and listen" to stories from DACA recipients. "I know our stories will touch their heart. They should listen to all the obstacles we have to face daily while living under the shadows."

Congress, however, has been in gridlock and unable to pass any immigration reform for Obama to sign. Sanchez acknowledged that many groups had pressured Congress to vote on immigration legislation, and it upset her when legislation was not moved forward. Sanchez said Obama should "act alone" if members of Congress continue to fail to pass legislation addressing the immigration crisis, as the situation "seems to be getting worse every day."

"I would like to see a solution for those people who have been living under the shadows for years. Us DREAMers are not the only ones who came to the United States with a dream, our parents did too. I want my mom to have the opportunity that I am having. I want my mom and millions of other parents to have the opportunity to work and contribute to the U.S."

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