Reply With Quote
Sorry sweetheart, you don't get a free pass because you're almost done with a BA in Chicano Studies. Send this home!
Now I'm all about making the immigration policy work better in this country, and I'm not for deporting all illegals because they're an important part of our economy that should be paying taxes...butUndo ented student's arrest called part of 'civil rights disaster'
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/14/geo...ex.html?hpt=T1
Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Staring at the throngs of media representatives who came out to hear and see her Friday, Jessica Colotl took another step into the fight for her future.
The undo ented student from Mexico whose case has become a lightning rod in the immigration debate had been released on $2,500 bond just a couple hours earlier. The 21-year-old student at Kennesaw State University in Georgia surrendered Friday morning to authorities in response to a warrant for her arrest issued Wednesday night by the Cobb County Sheriff's Office.
Standing nervously before the crowd, Colotl fought back tears when people cheered for her. The media bombarded her with questions as she tried to give voice to her struggle.
Just a week earlier, she'd been released from a deportation facility in Alabama after being stopped in March for a minor traffic violation.
"If I were to be deported, I'd have to start all over again," she said. "I'm hoping for the best."
The sheriff's office said she gave a false address when stopped for that violation, a felony charge that her attorney denies.
A spotlight has been trained on Arizona since Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law a bill that requires law enforcement officials to seek proof of legal U.S. residency from anyone whom they have stopped on su ion of having violated the law.
But advocates working with Colotl point out that a little-understood program already gives local authorities in many states the la ude to act as immigration officials -- a right that is often abused, they say.
"The future of Arizona already exists in Cobb County and Gwinnett County [also in Georgia]," said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.
Near him were other Colotl supporters, some holding signs reading "Education not deportation."
Under the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 287(g) program, state and local law enforcement can partner with the federal agency to gain some immigration enforcement authority in their own jurisdictions. If they conclude that someone is in the country illegally, they can turn that person over to ICE. Last year, a change to the partnership program prioritized the detention and arrest of those who have allegedly committed crimes.
The Cobb County Sheriff's Office is one of 71 law enforcement agencies in 26 states that have entered into this partnership program, according to the ICE website.
Labeling the program a "civil rights disaster," Mary Bauer, legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said it "leads to racial profiling, distracts police from looking for real criminals and destroys families."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia called Friday for an end to the program.
"Jessica's case is yet another outrageous example of the unaccountable local enforcement of immigration laws in Cobb County gone awry," said Azadeh Shahshahani, ACLU of Georgia's national security/immigrants' rights project director.
Colotl's legal problems started in late March when her car was stopped on the Kennesaw State campus. Born in Mexico but living in the United States since she was 11, she could not produce a driver's license, so she handed over as identification an expired passport from Mexico.
She was arrested the next day and turned over to immigration officials. She spent more than a month in the Etowah Detention Center in Alabama.
Friends came out in force and marched on campus in her defense. Earlier this month, she was released, and her deportation was deferred for a year, which will allow her to finish her studies. She hasn't returned to classes yet, but looks forward to earning her degree.
"I'm just trying to live the American dream and finish my education," she said.
Calling Colotl "a symbol of what's wrong with the immigration system," immigration attorney Charles Kuck thanked ICE for allowing his client to stay in the country for a year to finish her studies. He then set out to educate people about the challenges facing Colotl, providing a reason why she did not have a license.
"Jessica can't start the process to become a U.S. citizen because she's not allowed to," he said. "If Jessica could obtain a license, she would have."
In a statement Wednesday night, Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren said, "Ms. Colotl knew that she was in the United States without authority to be here and voluntarily chose to operate a vehicle without a driver's license, which is a violation of Georgia law. She has further complicated her situation with her blatant disregard for Georgia law by giving false information."
As for the use of the ICE program, he said, "I value any tool that helps me enforce the law and remove violators from our community."
But the band of lawyers and advocates who rallied around Colotl say Cobb County is abusing its power. In a joint statement Thursday night, they voiced outrage over Colotl's treatment and suggested that the felony charge is trumped-up.
"It is obvious from all the do ents that I've seen that she has done nothing wrong and has given her proper address to Cobb County and immigration officials," said Chris Taylor, Colotl's criminal attorney. "There has been no crime committed."
The car's registration simply reflected her old address, Taylor said in an interview, and she provided her new address when she was taken into custody. Taylor said he has the do ents to prove this and looks forward to clearing her name.
In front of the crowd that gathered Friday, he said of his client, "She has not failed us. We have failed her. The system has failed her."
The Cobb Immigrant Alliance likened the actions of officials to "schoolyard bullying." Gonzalez, of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, called the sheriff "Wild-West Warren," saying he "has abused his authority in this case. His actions clearly demonstrate the problems that occur when local law officers are granted authority to enforce immigration laws."
"Sheriff Warren has embarked on a witch hunt, wasting money and county resources for political gain," said Adelina Nicholls of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights. "This is not about public safety."
WHY THE WAS SHE DRIVING A CAR WITHOUT A LICENSE?
Idiots. I hate how many people drive on the road, and this totally proves that some of them aren't even licensed. And of the ones that are, half are too stupid to drive.
As my big bro once said about seniors driving: "One word: shuttle."
Sorry sweetheart, you don't get a free pass because you're almost done with a BA in Chicano Studies. Send this home!
No one here illegally should be able to get a driver's license, and she deserves immediate deportation. This is an open and shut case, and opposition to her deportation really distracts from the main issue: that cops shouldn't be able to demand citizens show ID at their discretion (obviously I'm not against having to provide a driver's license when pulled over for committing a driving infraction).
How can this be seen as anything else other than an open and shut case? Send her back, done. If they feel that the felony charge is "trumped up" then great, she doesn't have to stand in defense of it, she should be in Mexico before her court date.
Does anyone know how she was paying for tuition at Kennesaw State University? There's quite a difference between in state and out of state tuition...especially over both semesters. Was she getting any type of FinAid? Who sold her a car?
Anyway, open and shut case. But that's ed up she was detained for a month, surely there must be a way to speed up that process.
oh the irony.
apparently shes a political science major and wants to go to law school.
reckonize
In immigration court there's no right to a speedy process or humane conditions like there is for criminal process: in some ways, we treat immigrants worse than criminals. Not because we hate them more, but because there are fewer rights and less accountability in administrative law courts.
so she was in the US illegally since she was 11, and she's sad 'cause she got caught before she could graduate...
Look, I'm all for removing a law that leaves room for racial profiling abuse, but this case is quite simple. Send her ass back to Mexico. I can seriously see how a lot of US citizens are getting tired of people thinking they can come and go into their country without following their laws.
Looks like the case wasn't so straightforward considering the immigration court didn't think she should be deported. The question here is why didn't she get papers as a temporary immigrant if that's the case?
So what traffic law did she break in order for her to be pulled over? I'm curious since it never stated that. Most likely a routine traffic violation. And though the lawyers said that no crime was committed I thought that driving a car without a license is a crime. I can understand the address situation. That was easily corrected so I think the GA officials should let that slide since the corrected address was supplied quickly.Colotl's legal problems started in late March when her car was stopped on the Kennesaw State campus. Born in Mexico but living in the United States since she was 11, she could not produce a driver's license, so she handed over as identification an expired passport from Mexico.
So she has her trial delayed for a year so she can complete her studies? Nice! So if she gets deported to Mexico she has a degree from an American college. That should benefit her in her native country.Friends came out in force and marched on campus in her defense. Earlier this month, she was released, and her deportation was deferred for a year, which will allow her to finish her studies. She hasn't returned to classes yet, but looks forward to earning her degree.
If she doesn't get deported then what does that say about our laws against illegal immigration? Is it a pick and choose situation so we can keep her, since she will be/can be a college grad, and deport those with lesser educational credentials?
bye bye
back to mexico you go. and how the was she paying for college? did she ing receive financial aid?????
let this be a lesson to everyone. FOLLOW OUR ING LAWS!!!!!!!!!
break into our country, drive on the road without a license
do mexicans think they are special or what? god damn.
Illegals usually drive slow as . It gets pretty annoying.
Now this is why I disagree with most of you guys...
She was 11 years old.
I do not believe that she "broke into our country" like this idiot claims.
Most of these kids/students in these schools were brought by their parents, and I really doubt they have a say in the decision.
If she was brought here... and raised here how is she at fault? I don't get it, 11 is not that young. She is however going to college... trying to make it.
Yet somehow we have citizens who are trying to blow up an SUV in timesquare...
citizens in the streets raping young girls.... killing... living with their parents playing WoW all day.
Why in the world would you want to ing send an "americanized" student back to Mexico after 9 years here?
You call that progress?
The truth is, none of you understand most of their cir stances... and you should consider yourselves lucky. Your parents didn't have to risk coming to this country illegally so you could have a better life. But I'm not going to start the never ending argument on illegal immigration.
I watched the "debate" on Univision... and it was pretty much the same 'ol blame game.
But they seemed to agree on two things...
Immigration laws have to change....
and they are somewhat glad that Arizona did something to wake Obama up.
Last edited by Sense; 05-18-2010 at 05:39 AM.
What a lot of people don't seem to realize is that when a person gets deported after being in the states for a long period of time.. they are given a lot of time to leave. I've heard of 6-8 months to gather up their things and take care of some stuff before walking out. So I can see a year being dropped.
I agree with you on the fact that she was brought here by her parents. Therefore she didn't "break into" this country, her paarents did. She was a minor at the time but I'm willing to bet that some here would still state that her actions did cons ute breaking into this country regadless of age. But that's somewhat picky and a meaningless point at this time. And she has been "Americanized" which makes this a sticky problem. Having grown up in the USA she is essentially a member of this country without legal status. How to proceed. I really don't know but she is caught in the middle and though it sounds cold hearted these things do happen and "innocent" people do get hurt. I'm not blaming her for trying to make it here since I believe that she looks upon this country as her own but she did drive without a license and is here illegally. Should the law show compassion in this particular case? Maybe but the real issue isn't her but her legal status. IIRC wasn't there a thread about an Asian man who was caught up in New York and threaten with deportation? The judge in the case is working with him to get him legal status in this country since he was convinced that the man was a hard working upright individual who he thought deserved to be here. Maybe in this case the syustem could do the same.
And though this country has it's share of low lifes and ciminals the fact that they do bad things is immaterial to the issue of illegal immigration. Good and upright character isn't a requirement for living here as unfortunate as that may seem.
And the cir stances which lead them to come to the USA aren't relevant either. The fact that they came here to help support their family and obtain a better life is not the issue. The reasons they came are not the fault of the USA (unless you are like boutons_deux and want to go into capitalism, Yankee imperialism, Gringo oppression...etc) and have been going on for the last 500 years in Mexico and Central/South America. Those reasons reside in their own countries and need to be addressed there.
I'm grateful to have been born in this country. And I believe that this country has the riight to pick and choose who they want to become citizens of this nation. Should there be cir stances, like the one here, that need to be examined and maybe a concession made. Possibly but where do we draw the line? How do we enforce our laws and at the same time temper them with compassion due to special cir stances?
I don't know but that is what we are struggling with presently.
And you are right the immigration laws need to be re-examined and changes need to be made.
I'd start with a cons utional convention striking jus solis from the do ent. It's an outdated and moot issue which shouldn't be in the do ent anymore. That way you can't cross the border and drop a baby in this country and call it a citizen if the parents aren't already one.
All that studying for naught. That's crushing.
also, I fail to see how this is a "civil rights disaster"
She's not an american, so she has no rights.
and to the person who called me an idiot
you, you illegal mexican. go back to your country
The only sensible thing to do is boycott the state of Georgia.
That just shows how smart you are.....
you're on the ignorant side... I'm just simply not.
Great post... I can see at least some people understand the other side of the issue, definitely put things into perspective.
LOL NO U
you're on the ignorant side... I'm just simply not.
Child. "u are idiots, i mnot!!"
I guess I can just break into the Playboy mansion whenever I feel like.
My excuse when caught will be,
"PLEASE, have a heart. I worked very very hard to get here, and in my home, I don't get access to beautiful women like these. I just want to improve my sexual lifestyle."
ing ridiculous.
Deport her. Set an example.
If you let her stay, then it sets a precedent
"oh, if you go to america and do illegal things, break in, and drive without a license, steal financial aid, it won't matter cause when you get caught, you can just say you are a good person and they will let you stay"
don't work that way.
My father was born in Spain and he came here LEGALLY and WAITED for his citizenship and .
I expect everyone to do the same.
also
Hard working GOOD mexican people should stay in Mexico and fix their damn country.
All the good ones come here, obviously I understand why.
but Mexico needs them. Fix Mexico, it's corrupt and putrid.
needs good citizens to heal that nation.
Barack Obama's aunt Zeituni Onyango was granted asylum.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
