Two sisters, two Americas: the fate of these siblings--and millions of other 'mixed-status' families like theirs--could depend on who wins the 2016 election.

• Author: Ross, Brooke
• Position: Cover story

Diana Saravia, 14, and her older sister, Veronica Saravia, 21, aren't just siblings--they're best friends. They share many interests, including art and current events. Plus, Diana knows she can count on Veronica for things like rides to school and help with her math homework.

But there are some big differences between the sisters. Diana will be eligible to vote in elections after her 18th birthday. Veronica doesn't get a say in this year's presidential election, even though she's already old enough to cast a ballot. When Diana graduates from high school, she'll be able to apply for federal financial aid to go to college. Veronica isn't in college because she can't afford it--and she can't ask the federal government for a loan.

How can this be? Diana is a U.S. citizen, born in Maryland, where she's lived her whole life. Veronica, however, was born in El Salvador and was brought to the United States illegally by her parents when she was 10.

The Saravia sisters, along with their parents and brother, are part of what is often referred to as a "mixed-status family"--a family whose members include people with different citizenship or immigration statuses. Almost 17 million people in the U.S. live in mixed-status households that include at least one undocumented immigrant. About a quarter of those people are children born in the U.S. and, like Diana, are citizens who live with at least one undocumented parent.

Members of mixed-status families face constant challenges, including getting and keeping jobs, discrimination, and-their greatest fear of all--being split up if one or more of them are deported.

Now, in a presidential election year, that worry is more real than ever. While President Obama has implemented policies intended to help some undocumented immigrants--even bypassing Congress at times to do so--his term is almost up. Some Republican candidates say they'll undo Obama's policies if elected, meaning many undocumented immigrants would be at risk of deportation.

That's Diana's biggest worry. "I don't want to be here all alone, separated from my family," she explains. "They're my family. I love them."

Fleeing Gang Violence

The family has been separated before. In the late 1990s, as poverty and gangs were taking over the streets of El Salvador, Diana's parents, Maria * and Miguel*, made a drastic decision. Temporarily leaving their two young children, Veronica, then 4, and Tony*, then 2, with relatives, the young couple fled their home in Intipuca, El Salvador, to build a better life in the U.S.

They slipped across the U.S.-Mexico border and settled in Maryland. Miguel i found a job as a welder. Maria worked t, seven days a week at a dry cleaner. After they had been in the U.S. for about four years, Diana was born--with citizenship. (The 14th Amendment to the Constitution grants automatic citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.)

By 2005, the violence in El Salvador had escalated. Gang members--who believed Veronica and Tony's parents must be rich since they were living in the U.S.--started threatening the siblings. Maria and Miguel scrounged every penny they had to hire smugglers to bring the children to the U.S. Veronica remembers the journey vividly: "We were forced to walk for days," she says. "We couldn't eat. There were a few times I thought we weren't going to make it."

Along the way, the siblings, then 10 and 8, were split up. Tony made it into the U.S. undetected, but Veronica was detained by immigration officers at the border. After two weeks in a Texas detention center, she was turned over to her parents. Veronica had to appear in court, and soon after, she received a deportation letter. But she and her family never left the U.S.

An estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants five in the U.S. The majority come from Mexico and...