Melina Batista said this is the moment she has been waiting a long time for. The 18-year-old is an undocumented immigrant, who is now hopeful after a federal judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to fully restore DACA. 

The program provides a pathway for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

"It gives us everything that we have been fighting for,” Batista said. “Yes, I'm excited. I get to do the things I've been wanting to do, get my permit and my drivers license."

Batista and her parents came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic with a visa. She has been here ever since, living in Queens where she grew up and attended school.

The visa expired in 2011, but she stayed in the city she now considers her home. 

Batista had been hoping to apply to the DACA program but the Trump administration moved to end the program. But the court decision calls on DHS to start accepting first-time and renewal applications like Batista again.

"We've been fighting to keep DACA alive. We know it's not something permanent. We want more assurance,” Batista explained.

More than 600,000 immigrants depend on the program to work and study in the US, without it they are at risk of deportation. 

"It's been a roller coaster. I feel like with this DACA decision I can be able to live fully, to fulfill my dreams to the fullest,” Batista said.

Batista is currently in her freshman year of college and is studying criminology. Her dream is to be a lawyer some day, and says obtaining legal status is the only way for that to happen.