A week ago, Barack Obama made an executive decision to temporarily protect all undocumented immigrants whose children are U.S. citizens and who have lived here for more than 5 years. This includes Antonio’s parents.

Antonio’s parents crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally eight years before his birth, escaping the poverty, corruption, and dangers Mexico faced. Obama’s executive action means they, along with 4 million other undocumented immigrants, no longer have to fear being sent back. If deported, these people would lose basically everything: their savings, jobs, safety, their homes.

Because of Obama’s executive action, students like Antonio will not have to live with the fear of coming home from school and not finding their parents.

Like Antonio’s parents, more than four million undocumented people will be able to continue living in this country without being deported, students included.

Many undocumented teens and children have grown up all of their lives in the U.S.; this country is their home. They will no longer have to return to a country that is completely unknown to them.

Antonio’s dad paid approximately $2,000 to get to “the other side,” a side where he expected life to be easier, a side where he could save money each month in order to send some back to his parents, who lived in a tiny house in his hometown.

After more than eight years of living as undocumented immigrants, Antonio’s parents had him. Antonio grew up in an American environment and speaks both English and Spanish. He currently is a high school student and maintains a 4.2 GPA.

He dreams of being an important person in society who changes people’s views of the Latino community.

Since Antonio was born here, he is a U.S. citizen, but his parents continue to live in the U.S. without documentation. If deportation policies were to continue, many people like this would return to living in poverty and in an extremely violent environment taken over by drug cartels.

In a speech, President Obama also promised to secure the borders and to focus on deporting criminals, instead of families. He is making a stride in the right direction. The only thing left is for Congress to finally assemble immigration reform, in order to give these undocumented immigrants, like Antonio’s parents, the opportunity to become citizens.

I am Antonio, and all I want to say is: thank you, Obama. Thank you for making life easier for so many of us.