Billy Ogbaoa, 20, sat next to his mother inside Navy Pier, trying to be patient as he waited for the chance to fill out an application for temporary protected status.
He had arrived at 6 a.m. to stand in line but still had made it only narrowly into the Grand Ballroom because so many others had arrived early.
Ogbaoa’s mother is from Nigeria, but he was born in Italy and came to the United States when he was 7.
He is a college student and wants to become a hospital administrator after earning his health management degree.
To do that, he will need to transfer to a four-year university, something that will be much easier with the benefits that come with protected legal status, he said.
“My goal is to finish school,” Ogbaoa said. “That will be easier with a Social Security number.”
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Lisa Kim, 22, arrived in the U.S. from South Korea with her mother when she was 14 months old.
She studies biology at Loyola University but is able to attend only part time because money is tight.
She showed up at Navy Pier at noon with a group of traditional Korean dancers who entertained those waiting in line. By then, with the Grand Ballroom filled to capacity, it was too late to get inside.
Kim said it was just as well because she didn’t have the $465 application fee.
The size of the crowd, and its diversity, amazed her, Kim said.
“Seeing so many races and cultures is so inspiring,” she said. “Words cannot describe.”
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Kim wants to go to medical school, specialize in pediatrics and eventually open a clinic to benefit victims of human trafficking in Malaysia.
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Pedro Aguirre wants to become a firefighter.
“All my friends and I, we were supposed to do it together,” said Aguirre, 21.
His friends are almost finished with their training. Aguirre said he assures them that “he’ll catch up,” and applying for temporary legal status is the first step.
Aguirre arrived at Navy Pier at 10 p.m. Tuesday and spent the night in a sleeping bag to make sure he got a chance to fill out an application at Wednesday’s Dream Relief Day event.
If he is successful in his application, Aguirre said one of the things he looks forward to most is not having to ride his bike to work — he currently has no driver’s license or insurance. He said he appreciated all of the lawyers who volunteered their time.
“That’s a blessing,” he said. “There’s a lot of good hearts out there.”