HERNDON, Va. — During the 10 hours a day that Bianca spends stretching and massaging patients at the chiropractic clinic where she works, she allows her mind to rest. But around 8 p.m., as she drives home to her husband and three children, her fear comes rushing back:

When a new president steps into office, will she be sent back to Honduras?

A rapt 11-year-old when she first entered the United States illegally, Bianca, 27, was nearly deported this year after making herself known to the American government by applying for asylum. When a judge explained that he did not have sufficient evidence to let her stay, a government lawyer offered to pause the proceedings rather than deport her immediately — something the Department of Homeland Security has done with increasing frequency under President Obama.

As a result of the agreement she made, known as administrative closure, Bianca is not legally allowed to live in the United States, but she is not forced to go, either.

“You can’t have a normal life,” she said in barely accented English, “We just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Bianca, who asked to be identified only by her first name because she could be called back into court at any time, is one of about 24,000 immigrants this year who have accepted the government’s offer to put their deportation cases on hold. Government figures show nearly 80,000 immigrants have done so since 2012, hoping that a route to legal status will materialize while they wait.