Locals rally against Donald Trump for overturning DACA.

As the temperature hit 80 degrees on the afternoon of Sept. 5 in Seaside, half a dozen activists at the Center for Change crafted signs for two protests scheduled that day. Doors were cracked open and fans whirred, but it wasn’t enough to cool down frustrations over President Donald Trump’s announcement that morning that he would end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. “I’m angry,” says CSU Monterey Bay student Gabriela Medrano, one of the sign-makers.

The 28-year-old is the only Latina in the room. She was born in the U.S. and knows she’ll be fine, but worries about others in her immediate circuit, like her cousin.

Her cousin came to the U.S. from Mexico with her mother, who was looking for work. She made a life in the U.S.: graduated college, started a family, and since DACA was approved in 2012, has been employed as a designer for a textile company in Southern California. “DACA was a step in the right direction,” Medrano says.

DACA applies to nearly 900,000 undocumented residents, allowing them to apply for work permits, deferring the risk of deportation for two years. Last year, Hartnell College in Salinas enrolled 880 so-called Dreamers.

Local lawmakers were quick to issue statements objecting to Trump’s decision. “Now more than ever, it is time we roll up our sleeves and stand with these young people who contribute to our community and our economy,” U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris said in a statement.

Trump, meanwhile, passed the responsibility onto Congress. He tweeted, “Congress, get ready to do your job – DACA!”