Undocumented student's arrest called part of 'civil rights disaster'

[Orlandodem]

What are these people thinking? This woman is just trying to better herself by going to college. Please make sure that every Hispanic you know sees this. This is a travesty! Contact Univision, Telemundo, and every Hispanic newspaper you know. For the record, I am a white male who is embarrassed by the treatment of this woman and the passage of "that law" in Arizona. Every sovereign nation in the world has the right to enforce border security and immigration laws. But sanity must prevail. We must have a process for earned citizenship. We must know that arresting illegal aliens who actually trying to better themselves is counterproductive. We need to support this young lady and we need for Dems in Congress to grow a pair and put an immigration reform bill on the table for Republicans to accept or reject.

SNIP

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 undocumented 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.


http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/14/georgia.student.immigration/index.html?hpt=T2

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. Please see

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8339676

[Coyote_Bandit]

2. Delete

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Her parents bought her here when she was 10

I'd hate for anyone to hold me accountable for something my parents did when I was a child.

She graduated from high school with honors and is soon to be a college graduate. She should be applauded for her hard work instead of deported.

[Taitertots]

6. I'm about to get my college degree, what laws don't apply to me?

Are you going to applaud my hard work instead of punishing me for the crimes I commit?

I don't see why you can't applaud her for her hard work AND deport her for her crimes.

[EFerrari]

14. This is why Sarah Palins has followers.

Or as my mom would say, this is why 9/11 happened.

[RB TexLa]

15. Deport her for a traffic violation? You must really hate non-Mericans

[Taitertots]

16. They are not deporting her for traffic violations n/t

[customerserviceguy]

7. If my parents robbed a bank when I was ten

and they died leaving me the whereabouts as to where they stashed the loot, would I be morally justified in keeping it?

This girl was done a disservice by her parents who somehow told her she was entitled to a college education paid for by US taxpayers. If you want to blame somebody, blame them.

[DevonRex]

4. A few years back 2 Colorado boys were sent back to Mexico. They

didn't even speak Spanish. They had been here since they were very small. These are the saddest cases of all - the children who were brought here by their parents and think of the US as home. Then they're deported to a place they barely remember, if at all.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. I have mixed feeling about this

My take is 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, though that may now be OBE.

Underage children are really a hard case. Brought over at 3, I have no problem with working out some sort of fast track legalization process at 18 presuming the parents are legal at that point. At 16 I would. Not sure where the boundary should be 12 or 13 would be my guess, and she was 10 when she came her.

The other thing that bothers me is that she was clearly aware of her status and did nothing about it. She owns part of this too.

[DevonRex]

9. I'm sure her parents probably instilled a great deal of fear in her

about going to the authorities. Just think about it. These kids are told as soon as they start school never to talk about how they got here to anyone in authority. When a child is programmed that way it's hard to shake free of it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. What was she supposed to do?

It can take as long as 18 months for a Mexican to get an appointment to BEGIN the citizenship process. And they can be and often are turned away because of a freeze on immigration from Mexico.

These immigrants can't just waltz in any government office and announce they want to become legal immigrants and/or US citizens. It's a process that is deliberately difficult to wade through and is also very expensive.

There really aren't any good options for this girl.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. As I said in that post, underage children are a sticky issue, especially if they are young

I also stated that some sort of provision should be made for children brought in under a certain age, 10-13 comes to mind.

[rocktivity]

5. What's Spanish for "Talk about sending out mixed signals!"

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...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 had a passport from Mexico, doesn't that "prove" she's really a Mexican citizen? And as such, shouldn't she be deported immediately instead of being allowed to stay in America another year? A civil rights disaster indeed.

:crazy:
rocktivity

[HillbillyBob]

10. The teabagger bs is all over the comments over there

firstly she would never get financial assistance to go to school she would be required to pay 'out of state' tuition.

The assholes talk about what it costs. They are fucked up in the head and don't know wtf they are talkng about. period.
Having worked with many immigrants both undoc and legal. None would go to a dr unless they were really bad off and usually pay cash, they do pay for health care, they in the end pay for educating their kids considering they work for less than minimum wage and still have taxes taken out that they will never get the real benefit from since the baggies are all medicare/SS recipients they get the benefit two ways..through the taxes paid and some one to pick the lettuce they are too damn fat to bend over to pick for themselves..or anyone of a hundred other low paying crappy jobs that the baggies are too full of themselves to stoop to do.
I know this first hand and am a white male citizen, but since I m gay and make no apologies for it I did a lot of shit jobs.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. I have also gotten to know quite a few undocumented people

The system is fucked up. Becoming 'legal' is not at all a simple or affordable process.