For D, who has documents that permit him to work through May 24 and for his prospective employers, it’s all very confusing. If President Donald Trump had not moved to rescind DACA, D would have been able to renew for another two years, if he filled out all the forms and met the criteria. Now, who knows?

I spoke with him about what it’s like finding his way into tech while DACA’s future hangs in the balance, the offer a company rescinded when they learned about his immigration status, and the tech giant that’s extended him both an internship and legal aid.

Because of his family’s immigration status, D requested to be identified only by the first letter of his first name. This interview has been edited and condensed.

Alexis Madrigal: Tell me a little about yourself.

D: I came to Salinas when I was 9 years old and I’ve been here since. Right now, in CSU at Monterey Bay, I’m doing computer science with an emphasis in software engineering. I’m 20 years old, and it’s my junior year. I’ll be graduating in May of 2019.

Madrigal: How does your college program work?

D: The program gives you a bachelor’s degree in CS in three years. They group us with a cohort of 30 students. We all take the classes together and have the same mentors. Our workload is a little bit more, since we do everything in less time. We don’t have summer vacation. We don’t have winter breaks. The second summer that you’re in the program, they allow you to look for an internship.

Madrigal: How’d you go about trying to get that intership?

D: I was doing my internship hunt, looking for companies. I started interviewing with Apple. I also found out about Code2040 [an organization that’s working to get more black and Latin people into tech]. So I applied for Code2040 and did their whole process. I really enjoyed all the tests. After I became a finalist, they helped me with the different companies.

Madrigal: How did it all go?

D: One company put me through a total of five interviews. They challenged all my background knowledge on computer science. I had to study really hard for them. I spent nights reviewing all my data structures. One day I got the call from their recruiter. She was just calling to say, “Hey, you got the position! We’ll send you written confirmation.” She told me about all the opportunities and resources and benefits I was going to get from the internship. I was overwhelmed. It was awesome.

At the end, she said, “Do you have any questions?” I was like, “This is my time. I’m going to disclose my status.” So I told her and asked, are you able to sponsor me? The internship will start May 21, my papers expire May 24. After that, she said, we’ll hold off on the paperwork until we know you’ll be able to work here. That was a little downer right there.

Madrigal: Did you hear any more from them?

D: They actually tried to look more into it. After that conversation, I reached out to Code2040 and told them what was happening. They talked to the company and tried to share some advice with them. They were trying to push the company to give me some slack and give me time to figure it out. They did try to give me a lawyer to work with, but after an initial conversation, the lawyer didn’t reach out to me and I didn’t have more conversations.