Thursday was the deadline for the so-called "Dreamers" to apply to stay in the U.S.

President Donald Trump decided this summer to end DACA, the "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" program. DACA recipients are people who had been brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Officials said "Dreamers" would face an uncertain future if they did not get their applications in by Thursday. Many won't be able to keep their jobs and some may go into hiding to avoid deportation, according to immigration lawyers.

Bridgeport immigration lawyer Alex Meyerovich said he had already filed several renewals just this week.

"Today DACA is effectively dead,” said Meyerovich. “No one can apply for renewal of their DACA status, and that created a chaos, a short-term chaos."

Meyerovich said that not all Dreamers could re-apply. He said anyone whose DACA status expires after March 5 is out of luck.

"It's hard to plan your life when you don't know what's going to happen," said Meyerovich.

Meyerovich said many DACA recipients were brought to the country as young as infants. He said English is commonly the only language they know and that most in Connecticut have high-paying, white collar jobs.

Protesters hit the streets across the nation to protest Thursday. In Los Angeles, police arrested nine people. Many Democratic lawmakers joined in the protest in Washington, D.C.

"America made a promise to our Dreamers. We promised that if they would come out of the shadows, if they would register, that we would make it possible for them to stay," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

"Dreamers" only had one month to get their paperwork together and many were expected to miss Thursday's deadline. As of Wednesday, the government said 27 percent of eligible people had not applied to stay.