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Reporter: Marcelino Benito

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - As the children of illegal immigrants, they've lived in the shadows for years waiting for a chance at the American Dream.

President Obama's Deferred Action Plan gave them just that -- a chance to come out of hiding, now their dreams are finally coming true. The wait for 23-year-old Adan Carrasco is over and his eyes are fixed on the word "approved."

"It basically means I get a chance at being myself," Carrasco said. "It means I am somebody to somebody else now. I don't have to hide. I don't have to be afraid."

To some, it's just a piece of paper -- but to Carrasco, it's a whole new world.

"It's scary that you can go out and be stopped," Carrasco said. "Something could happen and you could be sent back."

With these two pieces of paper, he's now safe from deportation for two years.

"We are Americans also," Carrasco said. "This is our home."

Although he's called Tucson home for most of his life, the paperwork makes it official. He can now get a job -- any job -- he wants. He knows the president's policy isn't popular, but he hopes people come to understand that "Dreamers" are just like everyone else.

"We are not coming here to do bad things," Carrasco said. "We just want to go to school like their kids."

Carrasco told 9OYS he wants to live his life in the open and try to forget years of insecurities, doubts and fears. And a few pieces of paper are what he needed to finally turn the page.

"I get a little choked up because I think of the struggles," Carrasco said. "People would bully me or call me names, say racist things. This gives me the opportunity to do something good, and it feels great."

Right after 9OYS's interview, Carrasco went out to a few job interviews set up at local restaurants and shops. He said that he's looking forward to that first official legal paycheck.