Vol. 74/No. 25      June 28, 2010

Colotl, 21, a student at Kennesaw State University (KSU) in Georgia, was brought to the United States from Mexico when she was 10 years old. She was arrested in March on a charge of driving without a license after being stopped for a minor traffic violation on the KSU campus, and faced deportation when she was handed over to immigration authorities. Under Section 287(g) of U.S. immigration law police in some local jurisdictions are allowed to act as federal immigration agents.

A campaign by friends and members of her sorority, Lambda Theta Alpha, won Colotl release from a federal detention center in Alabama and deferment from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. This will allow her to remain in the United States legally for one year. Colotl was arrested a second time on charges of giving a false address to police and released on $2,500 bond May 14. At the May 1 rally of 5,000 for immigrant rights here many demanded she not be deported.

More than 75 people attended the June 8 program sponsored by the Cobb United for Change Coalition and the Cobb Immigrant Alliance. "We have so much to learn from the African American struggle,” said Angela Flores, cofounder of the KSU Mexican American Student Organization. “When I was growing up here in Georgia, before there were many other Latinos, my sister who had a darker complexion was called the “N” word. I was told to go back to Mexico." Gonzalez noted there are many other ongoing deportation cases, including a man arrested May 25 in Hall County for fishing without a license. According to local press, 25-year-old Josue Castro did not provide a U.S.-issued identification and was subject to Section 287(g), now in use in four Georgia counties.

"Just because it is a law, doesn't mean it is just. It must be eradicated. Our Latino brothers and sisters have just as much right to be here,” said Charles Muhammad, a Nation of Islam minister, in response to a question about the law.

“Hundreds of thousands marched May 1 demanding an end to raids and deportations,” said Jacob Perasso, Socialist Workers Party candidate for governor of Georgia. “The fight for immigrant rights is not an issue only for immigrants. Winning legalization for all undocumented, which our campaign calls for, is a precondition to building a strong union movement in this country that can defend the working class against attacks on the standard of living and rights of all of us.”

In response to Colotl’s case, college presidents in Georgia were directed May 26 by Chancellor Erroll Davis to check the citizenship status of nearly 316,000 students by the time the fall semester begins.  
 
 
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