That’s a lot of parents. It’s even more children. How many is unclear, but Pew estimates that nearly 5.2 million U.S.-born or legal resident children live with one parent who is here illegally . And while much of the focus of discussion and debate about the president’s executive action has been on the parents, their children are arguably the chief beneficiaries. All will see their parents’ opportunities increase. Household incomes may go up. Stress and anxiety levels – their parents and their own – will almost certainly go down. All of this affects how well these youths thrive in school and in their communities.

Jefferson is one of these young people. He’s 13, born in the U.S. and living in Richmond, Va. Both of his parents are undocumented immigrants who have lived here for many years. Both intend to apply for the new deferred action program when it begins early next year. This is his story as he told it to me:

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“I didn’t fully understand what my parents’ situation was until last year, but I started wondering when I was about nine or 10. First of all, I started to wonder: Why didn’t my mom like to go anywhere? Why does she get nervous if she has to drive far? I was a little curious, but I didn’t ask. Back then it wasn’t at the top of my list.

So, they didn’t say anything, but I’m simply looking at their actions. Like, first of all, they are limited in their jobs, which didn’t really bother me, but we couldn’t go places, like maybe Disneyland, because it was too risky and why was it risky? I finally just asked them, why? Then it came up that they were undocumented. It means they are not officially legal citizens. They are not legal here. I simply wanted to know why. Why did you come here and why didn’t you show all of this or that to be here legally?

My mom is from Central America and my dad is, too. They’ve been here 20 years. My mom says the answer is that they were poor and they couldn’t come legally. I figured out that it was to get a better life or a better start.

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And when I started to know their situation, that’s all it took. I stopped asking. I understand why, and now my question is what can I do to help them? First of all, I can do well in school. If I do well in school, I can go to college and make money and hire a lawyer and help them get papers. So, that’s what I do. School is at the top of my list and then their situation is near the top.

At school, no one knows. The friends, the ones I left behind in my old school and the ones I know here, they don’t know about it, and I don’t know any kids in my situation. If my friends know, maybe they’ll talk about it and I’ll get embarrassed, but mostly, even if they are good friends, I worry about my parents’ safety. It’s a family matter and family matters stay private.

It’s just not something I like to focus on. When I get off the bus, I either see their car parked outside the house and I say, good, they are here, or when their car is not there, I wonder where they are and are they going to come back. Like one day my dad was coming late. He was simply going out shopping, but I was worried: Where could he be? When he came back, I told him, I was so worried and he said, all I did was go to the store.

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I have a little brother and a little sister. My brother is almost 7 and he doesn’t need to know any of this. He’s not ready for this.

I heard the news about the actions about Obama and the immigrants and I thought, finally, they can get their papers. And even though it’s temporary my mom will be happy. She would be more happy if she could get residency and then I can go without my worries, but with the president’s actions, there will be more opportunities and more happiness.