Tampa, Fla. — To kick off Hispanic Heritage Month, students connected to Hispanic clubs at the University of South Florida lined up booths outside the Marshall Student Center.

A large butterfly cutout sat in front of the table for the UndocUnited Club, where president Joan Flores sat smiling as student after student came up to ask questions. 

Flores said he strives to make the atmosphere as welcoming as possible, because many of the students coming up with questions are undocumented. He is undocumented, and found the club himself just last year. 

“I was like, ‘Wow, there are actually people who do care about people like me who have DACA,’” said Flores. 

He came to America with his family when he was just 2 years old. In fact, like many DACA kids today, he didn’t know he wasn't a U.S. citizen until he was in high school. 

“It was very surprising for me to know, you know — I was 16 at the time, and I thought I was a citizen," said Flores. "I thought I grew up here my whole life, but that wasn’t the case."

He helps other undocumented students, like Aba Oti.

“Mentally, it helped me," said Oti, who is also UndocUnited's treasurer. "It helped me to feel like I am not alone."

She also came to the U.S. at 2 years old. 

“I know my heritage is Ghanaian, I know I am an African,” said Oti. “It’s really painful to see I am not like other students. Like, I can be capable of doing so much things, but because of that, I am very limited.

"It’s like you have to hide yourself, protect yourself from situations that is going to happen. So even since then it is kind of a little traumatizing.”

In election years like this one, she said it is especially traumatizing because immigration is often in the headlines. 

“It makes me feel so, so sad," said Oti. "That, how undocumented people are getting bullied, are getting killed, have to hide their identities."

“It’s actually very nerve-racking,” added Flores. “With elections coming up and stuff like that, people go, ‘Should we keep it (DACA)? Should we not?’ I know people at one point were like, ‘We should end it.’ That is when this sense of worrying came, because I was like, ‘Now what do I do?’”

It is also why part of that day's setup was not just for recruitment and information — it was also a fundraiser. The club is raising $500 to help pay for an undocumented student’s DACA status renewal application, which must be submitted every two years.