The March 5 deadline on congressional action on DACA is looming, and the question of what will happen to the nearly 700,000 immigrants currently offered protection from deportation and the right to work under the program will be answered within days. 

The debate itself has held the country's attention since long before the Trump administration announced that it was winding down the program in September. But little is truly known about the individuals who will be most affected by the end of the program. 

That's where Eileen Truax comes in. In her 2013 book, Dreamers, an Immigrant Generation's Fight for Their American Dream, Truax draws the stories of undocumented students in the U.S. from the shadows, highlighting how and why they have made a home in America. On Feb. 21, Truax will visit the AL DÍA newsroom to talk about her book and the situation of DREAMers and undocumented students in the U.S — and you can be a part of the conversation. Click here to register to attend the event today. 

Truax is an internationally-acclaimed journalist who has spent her career covering issues of immigration in Mexico, the U.S. and Spain. She got her start in journalism as a political reporter in Mexico, later moving to the U.S. in 2004 to work for La Opinión in Los Angeles, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the U.S. Truax has published her work in U.S., Mexican, and international publications. She is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and she also co-founded a journalist network called Cuadernos. Colectivo de Cronistas iberoamericanos. 

In addition to Dreamers, an Immigrant Generation’s Fight for Their American Dream, her most recent book is Mexicanos al grito de Trump. Histories de triunfo y resistencia en Estados Unidos. Truax’s third book, titled We Built the Wall, will be published in July of this year. In it, Truax's investigative reporting delves into the asylum process, examining how and why the U.S. rejects certain asylum seekers. 

Truax has received numerous grants and fellowships for her reporting, including some from the International Center for Journalists, the Knight Digital Media Center, the Immigration in the Heartland program, the Inter-American Development Bank Training for Latin-American journalists, and the International Women Media Foundation. In 2010 and 2015 she was awarded the José Martí Publishing Award from the National Association of Hispanic Publications, and in 2010 she was named Media Woman of the Year by the California State Legislature.