Student’s Arrest Tests Immigration Policy

[alp227]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/us/15student.html

Robbie Brown
The New York Times
May 15, 2010: A14

ATLANTA — Jessica Colotl, a 21-year-old college student and illegal Mexican immigrant at the center of a contentious immigration case, surrendered to a Georgia sheriff on Friday but continued to deny wrongdoing.

Ms. Colotl was arrested in March for driving without a license and could face deportation next year. On Wednesday the sheriff filed a felony charge against her for providing a false address to the police.

The case has become a flash point in the national debate over whether federal immigration laws should be enforced by local and state officials. And like Arizona’s tough new immigration law, it has highlighted a rift between the federal government and local politicians over how illegal immigrants should be detected and prosecuted.

"I never thought that I’d be caught up in this messed-up system," Ms. Colotl said Friday at a news conference after being released on $2,500 bail. "I was treated like a criminal, like a threat to the nation."

Civil rights groups say Ms. Colotl should be spared deportation because she was brought to the United States without legal documents by her parents at age 11. They also note that she has excelled academically and was discovered to be here illegally only after a routine traffic violation.

Supporters of immigration laws and the sheriff’s office in Cobb County say she violated state law, misled the police about her address and should not receive special treatment for her age or education.

Ms. Colotl was pulled over March 29 by a campus officer at Kennesaw State University in suburban Atlanta, where she is two semesters from graduation, for "impeding the flow of traffic.” After she presented the officer an expired Mexican passport instead of a valid driver’s license, she was arrested and taken to a county jail, where she acknowledged being an illegal immigrant.

snip

The sheriff, Neil Warren, said Ms. Colotl provided a false address to the police, a felony charge. Her lawyers say that she provided the address of the residence where she used to live and to where her car insurance is registered, and that she also provided her current address.

At first I thought this story took place in Arizona given the recent passage of the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (SB1070)...nope, but rather in Atlanta, Georgia. And here we go again with stories of people who had no choice as kids but to follow their parents up to the US and suffer for something not really under their control.

Her ultimate goal, Ms. Colotl said at the news conference, is that proposed legislation called the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — known as the Dream Act — will become law, providing students without legal immigration status a path to become legal.

That sounds nice. In California, Assembly Bill 504 allows undocumented immigrants in the state to pay in-state tuition already. Some are advocating to allow undocumented immigrants to attain citizenship upon earning a degree. A student organisation on my college campus supports such a measure.

...Republican politicians are calling for new legislation to make attendance more expensive, or impossible, for illegal immigrants.

One Republican candidate for governor, Eric Johnson, has said that if elected he will mandate that all college applicants demonstrate their citizenship. The chancellor of the state university system says that would be prohibitively expensive, costing $1.5 million, for roughly 300,000 students.

Erhm, I start thinking about similar Republican bills in the US House of Reps and some state houses that require presidential candidates and other political candidates to prove US birth in response to conspiracy theorists who challenge President Obama's eligibility because of some telltale signs that he was born in Kenya rather than Hawaii. And the chancellor has a good point about such a system being "prohibitively expensive". Based on what I think about Mr. Johnson's proposal, I think that he has no problem with universities allowing foreign students to enroll with student visas; Johnson just doesn't want undocumented immigrants enrolling. But does it not occur to Johnson that not only would it be a huge drain on state government to perform citizenship background checks on every applicant but then the ineligible students would end up committing crimes instead and be sent to prison? It's far more expensive to house someone in prison for a year than to pay for tuition, y'know.

Under a program by the Department of Homeland Security, known as 287(g), local sheriffs are permitted to handle federal immigration law enforcement. The Cobb County sheriff’s office was the first in Georgia and one of the first in the United States to apply for the program. Immigration is a hot topic in the largely conservative county, where Hispanics make up 11 percent of the population, census figures show.

Mary Bauer, the legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is assisting in Ms. Colotl’s defense, said Cobb County had a history of using federal laws designed to detect dangerous criminals for arresting illegal immigrants for minor offenses. A review by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that from 2007 to 2009, the main crime for which immigration detainees were arrested in the county was traffic offenses.

So apparently Arizona's new law isn't that unique. 287g allows local law enforcement to enforce federal laws, even though I hear on DU a lot that Arizona is overstepping its bounds with SB1070. I find it messed up that Cobb County is pretty much equating people like Colotl to Edwin Ramos or Ted Bundy just to enforce border security.

This article quotes some anti-immigrant voices. What they want to accomplish is short-sighted, ignorant, and dehumanizing.

[dkf]

1. Arizona has said it's laws simply mirror federal law.

But federal law is unenforced because we don't have enough federal agents doing the job they are given.

I do feel for a person that has spent their entire life living a lie. I wonder if it would have been worse to have been in Mexico all that time or to have known and gotten used to the American way of life and have that taken away. What kind of parents subject their kids to a life like that? Personally I could never live a life one step ahead of the law.

But the law is the law. We can't have a special circumstance just for one person.

[ZombieHorde]

2. Recommended. nt

[UndertheOcean]

3. Deport this dangerous immoral law breaker immediately , think of all the lost American Jobs ....

[dkf]

4. Deporting people who break the law is the only future deterrent we have.

Without significant downsides this will go on in perpetuity.

[Flaneur]

5. Do you really want to deport this young woman?

Really?

[Chulanowa]

7. She's Mexican, right?

Lucky some people on DU aren't calling for her immediate execution for her terrible, horrible, soul-wrenching misdemeanor comitted by others a decade ago!

[WolverineDG]

22. Of course, she's Mexican!

She's not even human, don't you know?

dg

[ProgressiveProfessor]

23. Yes, she should be deported, but not have it count against her when she applies legally. She was

was already being allowed to stay and finish her undergrad degree.

Underage children are really a hard case. Brought over at 3, I have no problem with working out some sort of legalization process. At 16 I would. Not sure where the boundary should be 12 or 13 would be my guess.

[Egnever]

6. Hmm this leaves me with some questions

How did she register and pay for school, Who's car was she driving? Why was she driving without a license?

I dont think that she should be deported necessarily but just because you are brought here illegally by your parents you should not be given free reign to ignore any law you choose to.

[sabrina 1]

8. She was a child. And she is now 21 so she came here before

9/11 when Bush unleashed bigotry against all foreign born people, something that was apparently simmering under the surface of this democracy.

All children who were brought here by their parents, should be treated differently than those who come as adults imo.

Or should we do to this woman what was done to the Chinese man who was brought here when he was two years old and whose parents, while getting their own papers, didn't think to do so for the 'baby'. So, he grew up as an American, went to school, got a degree, started a family and a successful business and then after 9/11, decided to take care of his status, something he had not thought much about before that.

So, not trying to hide anything, he went to Immigration. He was arrested, taken away to one of our shameful gulags, and from then on his story is so horrific, it's hard for me to tell it. Suffice it say that he ended up dying under the most cruel of circumstances, denied the right to see his family, his lawyers etc.

His is only one of over 90 cases of people who have died in the custody of ICE. We don't have to go to Abu Ghraib to find criminal treatment of people in custody, innocent people.

This is what I think. We don't have the right to deny anyone access to this country. We didn't ask the Iraqis, the Afghans if they wanted our military in their countries. We didn't ask them if we could use their countries for our own benefit. We didn't ask if it was okay if we kidnapped and tortured their citizens, and worst of all we never asked how they'd feel if we slaughtered over one million of their citizens.

We had no legal right to invade those countries, yet a majority of Americans supported those invasions, and many still do, some calling the Afghan War 'the good war'. Well, I think we should ask the people there for their opinion of our presence in their country.

Iow, we need to stop whining about laws. We don't observe them, either our own, or International law.

We should be thankful the people coming in here without 'papers' are coming to work, not to kill and torture our men, women and children.

Sorry, considering the crimes we continue to commit in other people's countries, I can't get too excited about our 'laws' or whether one young student had her 'papers'. She's studying, not torturing, we need to get over it. We owe people, millions of them for the deaths and maimings and destruction of their environments for generations to come. Since no one is being held acountable, I think granting amnesty to those already here is probably the least we can do. As for those who may want to come in the future, well, the numbers are decreasing, not to mention that many Americans and legal immigrants, are leaving this country. It will probably all work out in the end, but no matter what happens, NO ONE has done to us the harm we have done to the countries we are in illegally.

[Egnever]

11. Well I dont agree with amnesty

Maybe for children that were brought here but not blanket amnesty for all illegal immigrants. We need to make a path to citizenship easier IMHO but granting amnesty excuses law breaking and despite the fact that most immigrants are honest hard working people the fact that they are here illegally creates many problems both for them and our society in general. It opens them up to exploitation and allows businesses to drive down wages and compensation for every legal citizen.

If we grant amnesty to all immigrants today tomorrow there would be more illegal immigrants. Amnesty would not solve the problems our immigration problems currently create for citizens and non citizens alike.

We need to stop the flow of jobs...most of these people would not be here if not for the work they can get. The idea that they do jobs Americans wont is BS Americans wont do them at this point because the wages paid for doing those jobs has declined through exploitation of illegal immigrants. If the wages were what they should be for those jobs there would be plenty of Americans willing to take them.

[Cleobulus]

9. Uhm, depending on where you are, you only have to prove current resident status...

not immigration status to do most of those things, including the driver's license. Many states allow for "alternative" proof of residence.

[Egnever]

10. Interesting

But apparently she didnt have a drivers license, yet was still driving. I did see in the article that she had insurance.

Its a crappy situation and something definitely needs to be done about it.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. She has declined to give information on her parents status as well

[ecstatic]

17. She did break laws, but she didn't have much of a choice

I guess she could have taken the bus, but I don't think Cobb county has a decent public transportation system. Regardless, the punishment (deportation) doesn't fit the crime.

[pampango]

12. Leading Evangelicals Want “Remedial English Classes” for Those Who Call Immigration Reform “Amnesty”

Even "conservative evangelicals" are turning away from republicans immigration demagoging and towards comprehensive reform.

http://americasvoiceonline.org/blog/entry/leading_evangelicals_suggest_remedial_english_classes_for_those_who_ca/

"And Evangelical leaders on the call had harsh words for the conservatives who are trying to keep those discussions from happening. As Town Hall reported, the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land said: "It doesn't help when you have parts of the conservative coalition that insist on mislabeling an earned pathway to citizenship as amnesty. These people need a course in remedial English themselves."

Conservative evangelicals made a big splash in the immigration debate this week, as some of the movement's foremost leaders joined some continued champions to call for immediate action on bipartisan immigration reform. Evangelical leaders including Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel and the Liberty University School of Law and Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church (a national figure in the Evangelical movement) signed a full-page ad in Thursday's edition of Roll Call titled "An Evangelical Call for Bipartisan Immigration Reform." The ad calls on Democrats and Republicans alike to protect "the unity of the immediate family" and establish "a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents."

Several of these leaders, including Land and Staver, also released a statement on Tuesday expanding on these points. The statement affirms:

The time to forge a rational consensus is now. America is a country of immigrants, a melting pot of individuals from various ethnicities and cultures. It is based on the rich heritage of immigration on which this country was established, and, in accordance with a just immigration policy, this country will continue to thrive. America deserves a just immigration policy; one that begins with securing, not closing, our borders, one that provides a temporary guest-worker program, and one that offers a pathway for earned legal citizenship or temporary residency.

At a time when the Republican Party appears to be avoiding immigration reform, having an influential sector tell it to face the issue and do the right thing is a big deal. As Rev. Sam Rodriguez, head of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Coalition, told CNN:

"If the conservative evangelical community looks to the Republican Party and says, 'We demand immigration reform, we demand a just assimilation strategy,' that may be the tipping point in getting substantial Republican support for comprehensive immigration reform."

Several of the leaders who signed the ad underlined their commitment on a conference call for press and conservative grassroots activists on Wednesday. Also on the call was Senator Chuck Schumer, who recognized the contributions the faith community has made to the immigration debate. As the Wall Street Journal reported, Schumer told the Evangelical leaders that "you can play a vital role" in getting Republicans to come to the table to discuss bipartisan immigration reform.

[Obamanaut]

13. Illegal immigrant, driving without a license, giving false address to

police, and "...I was treated like a criminal..." Imagine that.

[lynne]

14. While not a threat, she is here illegally -

- and has not taken the appropriate steps to make herself legal. In fact, she was breaking additional laws by driving without a license and giving false information to a police officer.

It's unfortunate that her parents made her a victim of immigration laws by bringing her here illegally. She's obviously educated and should have made an effort to legalize her situation here. IMO she needs to go back to her country, re-enter the US legally and then resume her studies.

[ecstatic]

18. with no paperwork, she would be "illegal" in Mexico as well

[lynne]

19. The OP article states she had an expired Mexican passport -

- which certainly proves she considers herself a Mexican citizen. She has papers. She needs to go home and re-enter the US legally.

[ecstatic]

16. They're picking on this student because they're jealous she's getting a college degree

On any given day, there are hundreds of undocumented workers either waiting for work or working at various locations around Atlanta. But that fits the repub's agenda: Cheap labor/exploitable workers. However, when it comes to a young lady who, by no choice of her own, is doing what she can to get by--suddenly they want her deported. I'm not surprised at all.

[Obamanaut]

21. "...by no choice of her own..." Expired passport, no driver's permit, over

the age of 18 which many here consider an adult, capable of decision-making.

Looks like she's had three years of deciding to remain illegally, with her expired passport.

[Taitertots]

20. The criminal immigrant poster child

Driving without a license, lying to the police, driving in dangerous illegal manner, car registered to address she does live at, no valid insurance, and admitted immigration law violator.