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Opponents Speak Out Against Bill Barring Undocumented Students from Ga. Public Colleges

Opponents to Senate Bill 458 spoke out at a rally held at the Georgia state capitol on Tuesday morning.

About 25 opponents of Georgia Senate Bill 458, which would ban undocumented residents from attending public schools in the state, showed up at the state Capitol with signs that read “Education, not segregation” and “Education is a right, not a ‘benefit’”and spoke out against the bill, which now heads to the full Senate after being passed out of committee Wednesday.

The Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance, the ACLU of Georgia, the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, Freedom University and Sen. Nan Orrock hosted the rally. Several high school and college students, most of whom are undocumented, vocalized their opposition to the bill.

Azadeh Shahshahani, the director of the ACLU’s immigrant rights project helped organize Tuesday’s rally.

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Shahshahani said the rally was important “because we believe it’s (SB 458) fundamentally unjust and flies in the face of American values that hard work pays off.”

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The bill would add provisions to the Georgia Illegal Immigration and Enforcement Act, also known as House Bill 87, Pebblebrook students also

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One of the SB 458 rally speakers, who only gave her name as Elizabeth, said she is a senior at a Georgia high school, where she takes all honors classes. She said she was brought here when she was 5 years old.

“I’m not a criminal. Please don’t let them treat me like one,” Elizabeth said.

Federally, undocumented individuals can attend public colleges and universities. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated in 2008 that individual states had the rights to decide whether undocumented citizens could be accepted to their public postsecondary institutions.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, University System chancellor Hank Huckaby believes the current system works well and should remain as it is. He said undocumented students do not receive in-state tuition, which is supported by taxpayer dollars.

Currently, in Georgia, undocumented students can attend public colleges, but only by paying out-of-state tuition, which is about three times that of in-state tuition.

According to the article, about 300 of the state system’s 318,000 students are undocumented, which is down from 500 last year.

Sen. Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville), a sponsor of the bill, said undocumented students are taking spots from citizens and would not be able to work legally after graduation if allowed to attend college.

Under the bill, undocumented students could not attend 35 colleges in the University System of Georgia nor 25 in the Technical College System of Georgia.

In October 2010, the Georgia Board of Regents handed down a decision to ban undocumented students from being admitted to the state’s five top public colleges or universities.

Nayeli Quezada, a 2009 graduate from a Lilburn high school, is currently earning her college degree at Freedom University, a volunteer organization of college professors and other educators who provide college-level instruction to academically qualified individuals regardless of immigration status.

Quezada, who spoke at today’s rally, said she will continue to research options to earn her postsecondary degree, but would prefer to not attend school out of state.

“I will not stop knocking doors until somebody opens it,” said Quezada, who is now married to an American citizen and in the process of becoming a legal resident.

Under President Barack Obama’s proposed DREAM act, undocumented residents would be allowed conditional, permanent residency if they meet certain criteria, such as attending a four-year college for at least two years or serving two years in the military.

Check back with South Cobb Patch for more updates on this story and bill, along with more video footage.


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