Illegal Immigrant Students Protest at McCain Office

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

In an escalation of protest tactics, five immigrants dressed in caps and gowns held a sit-in on Monday at the Tucson offices of Senator John McCain, calling on him to sponsor legislation to open a path to legal status for young illegal immigrants.

Four of the protesters, including three who are in the country illegally, were arrested Monday evening on misdemeanor trespassing charges. The three were expected to face deportation proceedings.

It was the first time students have directly risked deportation in an effort to prompt Congress to take up a bill that would benefit illegal immigrant youths.

Separately on Monday, a lawsuit was filed in federal court in Phoenix by a coalition of civil rights, labor and religious groups challenging the new Arizona law that allows the police to detain suspected illegal immigrants as unconstitutional, saying it would lead to racial profiling.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/us/18dream.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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"three who are in the country illegally"...they're lucky that there's only about two months before SB1070 goes into effect and the cops can call the feds on them.

Depending on how you see it, these students were darned brave and standing up for the American dream! :patriot:

(Today I attended a meeting on my college campus that had a couple students advocating the DREAM Act)

[saltpoint]

1. Seems like John and Cindy have enough houses for any number of immigrants.

[Jefferson23]

2. If McCain loses his re-election the press will not likely transfer their

warm and cozy approach to his opponent who is a lunatic. That might be the best that could happen, expose that
idiot and build an opportunity for a Democrat to win via opposing these racist laws.

[Lance_Boyle]

3. Good - maybe this can start a trend of more illegals rounding themselves up for

deportation.

[pampango]

4. Ann Arbor illegal immigrant jailed after protest at Sen. McCain's office

Source: Detroit Free Press

A Muslim illegal immigrant from Ann Arbor who fears deportation to Iran because he is gay, is in jail today after leading a sit-in protest Monday inside the office of Sen. John McCain over Arizona's new immigration law. Tonight in Detroit, a vigil for him is to be held in Clark Park.

Mohammad Abdollahi, 24, of Ann Arbor was one of a group of protesters who were arrested Monday at the Tuscon, Ariz., offices of McCain after trespassing and sitting in the office in protest of the Arizona law targeting illegal immigrants, according to activist and social media sites. He could now face deportation proceedings.

Abdollahi is an illegal immigrant who moved to the U.S. with his family when he was young. Now openly gay, he says he fears deportation back to Iran because of that country's stringent laws against homosexuality, which call for execution in some cases.

Abdollahi and the other protesters are calling for passage of the DREAM Act, a congressional bill that would reform the nation's immigration laws. The issue has been highlighted in recent weeks after Arizona enacted strict new policies to crack down on the growing population of illegal immigrants.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20100518/NEWS06/100518053/1318/Ann-Arbor-illegal-immigrant-jailed-after-protest-at-Sen.-McCains-office

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Gotta respect his civil disobedience. Willing to pay the price for his beliefs.

BTW, I'd recommend not reading the comments at the end of the story. SHEESH!!

[MidwestRick]

5. Did he lie...

or did the school overlook his illegal status when they accepted him?

-MR

[Cal Carpenter]

9. What school? n/t

[KamaAina]

12. The article does not say that he attends Michigan

merely that he lives in Ann Arbor. There are townies in A2, you know. :-)

[Unvanguard]

14. There's no law against undocumented students attending school.

They just can't get financial aid.

Edit: Not from the government, that is.

[thereismore]

6. He should get asylum. Iran does not like gay Persians. nt

[pinboy3niner]

8. +1

That may have been his strategy. I hope his companions have similar strategies.

K&R :kick:

[strategery blunder]

11. +2

The Iranian theocracy is so backwards that fearing persecution for being gay is probably about the best asylum claim there is...

[jberryhill]

13. Is that an accepted basis for a claim?

I don't know.

[pinboy3niner]

17. State persecution in the home country can be a valid basis

I don't know a lot about this either, so I did a quick search that turned up some info at an immigration law firm's site. (Obviously it's not as authoritative as real research on fed immigration laws/regs, but it seems to provide a fair summary.) Here's how the law firm explains it:

Political Asylum

What is political asylum?

It is a special and exceptional immigration benefit that if granted leads to the permanent residency in the United States and is based on the applicant's ability to show that the applicant has a well founded fear of persecution in his/her country of origin on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

I. How do I qualify for asylum?

The Refugee Act of 1980, and subsequent modifications of it incorporated into the Immigration and Nationality Act, provides that:

Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States ... irrespective of such alien's status, may apply for asylum ... (sec. 208 of the INA)

If you or anyone you know have been persecuted by the government of your country based on your race, ethnicity, social group, religion or political opinion and you are afraid to go back to your country because you will be arrested, tortured or killed you may qualify for political asylum in the U.S.

What is persecution?

Persecution is a severe form of discrimination, harassment, torture, or any other type of harm that's being committed against the asylum applicant by the government of his country directly or indirectly. Forced or irregular recruitment into the military, cruel practices rooted in culture or religion, military operations against certain groups of people, rape or sexual assault on account of race, ethnic origin, membership in social group, harm to family members are the examples of persecution that was in some cases found sufficient by the U.S. government to grant political asylum to persons subjected to these forms of persecution.

Past persecution and future persecution

The asylum applicant must prove to the U.S. government official /interviewing officer or immigration judge that the applicant was not only subjected to severe persecution by his/her government agents in the past, but is more likely than not to be persecuted again if the applicant is returned to his/her country.

Is it important who persecutes me?

Yes, the U.S. asylum law provides for protection from persecution by government agents of the foreign government - the asylum applicant must show that it was his /her government that persecuted the applicant.


http://www.dmitrylaw.com/attorney/immigration-lawyer-los-angeles/political-asylum.html

[Tx4obama]

7. Dream Act

During the campaign Obama stated several times at various rallies that he supported the Dream Act and would sign it.
Haven't heard anything about it lately ;(

[Unvanguard]

15. It is within current proposals for comprehensive immigration reform.

But will not be passed independently, and comprehensive reform, of course, is stalled.

[Tx4obama]

16. Thanks, and I found some info

Wikipedia.com

2009 re-introduction

The DREAM Act was re-introduced in both chambers of Congress on Thursday, March 26, 2009. Introducing the bill were Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Harry Reid (D-NV), Mel Martinez (R-FL), Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), and Russel D. Feingold (D-WI)<21> and U.S. Representative Howard Berman (D-CA). To date, 118 representatives<22> and 36 senators<21> (not including former Senator Edward Kennedy) have co-sponsored the bill.


Under the new DREAM Act, immigrants may qualify in part, by meeting the following requirements which have not been finalized by Congress:

* - Must be between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time the Law is enacted
* - Must have arrived in the United States before the age of 17
* - Must have resided continuously in the United States for a least five (5) consecutive years since the date of their arrival
* - Must have graduated from a U.S. High School, or obtained a General Education Diploma GED
* - Must have "Good moral character"

* Other benefits:

In addition to the temporary Residency, immigrant students who qualify would also be entitled to apply for student loans and work study, but would not be eligible for Pell educational grants.

* Termination of benefits:

In certain circumstances, the immigrant may lose temporary immigration Residency. This may occur if the immigrant does not meet the educational or military service requirement within the six year time period or if they commit any crimes (other than those considered non-drug related misdemeanors) regardless of whether or not they have already been approved for permanent status at the end of their six years. If an immigrant is convicted of a major crime, or drug-related infraction, (except for a single offense of simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana) he or she would automatically lose the six year temporary residence status and be immediately subject to deportation.<23>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Act

[pundaint]

10. I wont be taking any strategy advice from that guy.

[pampango]

18. The latest: Immigrant Students Face Deportation After Protest at McCain Arizona Office

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/undocumented-student-immigrants-face-deportation-mccain-office-protest/story?id=10689042

"(Mohammad Abdollahi), (t)he gay Ann Arbor, Michigan, resident, who was brought to the United States illegally when he was 3, now faces deportation to a country he has never known and where homosexuality is a capital crime."

"The students, who were allowed to peacefully protest inside the McCain offices all day, were ultimately arrested by local police for criminal trespassing and later transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. Officials released the trio from detention late Tuesday and initiated deportation proceedings for the weeks ahead.

"It's not only Sen. McCain we're looking for and holding accountable, there's senators all across the country we're holding accountable," Abdollahi said. "We're telling them you've been asking for a long time for somebody to step up and take leadership on this -- none of you have been willing to do so -- so as non-citizens, we've taken that lead."

"McCain was supportive of the Dream Act in the past... we saw him as a champion in some ways, and we hope that comes back," said Abdollahi. A McCain spokesperson told ABC News the senator will support the so-called "Dream Act" as part of comprehensive immigration legislation but only after the Southwest border with Mexico is "secured."

The Dream Act, which has existed in various legislative forms for nearly a decade, is a narrow immigration provision that applies only to young adults who entered the country illegally, often at the hands of their parents, before the age of 16. It would provide a six-year-long conditional path to legal status that would include a clean criminal record and mandatory completion of a college degree or two years of military service among other things. The Dream measure has 38 co-sponsors in the Senate, including two Republicans, Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Mel Martinez, R-Fla. It has 118 supporters in the House.