Illegal immigrant KSU student hopes to stay in U.S.

By Andria Simmon

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Friday 5-14-2010
A Kennesaw State University student on Friday criticized the national immigration system that brought her to the brink of deportation and remains a looming threat to the future of students like her who are illegally in America.
"I just hope for the best," said Jessica Colotl, a 21-year-old who entered the country illegally when she was 10. "I hope something positive comes out of this because we really need reform for this messed-up system."
The Mexico native gained national attention in March when she was arrested in Cobb County for a minor traffic violation on the KSU campus and narrowly avoided being deported. Colotl addressed about 50 supporters and reporters at a rally just hours after being released from jail on $2,500 bond on a second charge accusing her of lying about her address.
The young student is being held up as an example of what's wrong with the nation's immigration system by both pro-immigrant groups and opponents of illegal immigration.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel said students who are undocumented should be expelled from colleges. State Sen. Eric Johnson, another GOP candidate for governor, said through a representative Friday that state and federal laws are very clear that those in this country illegally are not eligible for any public benefit, including postsecondary education.
"Especially at a time when they are raising tuition, we can’t afford to have illegal immigrants taking a taxpayer-subsidized spot in our colleges," Johnson spokesman Ben Fry said. "We must enforce the law."
Two other GOP candidates for governor, Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine and former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, also gave statements about Colotl's case. Oxendine called for the expulsion of all illegal immigrants in the higher education system, and Deal said current immigration law needs to be enforced.
Colotl said she is looking forward to graduation and hoping to avoid forced removal to the home country she barely remembers.
"If I were to be deported, I would have to start all over again," Colotl said. "I am just hoping for the best and hopefully immigration reform ... will help me."
Her criminal defense attorney, Chris Taylor, said someone with a 3.8 grade-point average coming out of high school is "the kind of person we want in our country."
The forum at Plaza Fiesta in Atlanta to address Colotl's case was organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Center for Human Rights, the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, all of whom have rallied to her cause. A criminal defense attorney and immigration lawyer also have taken her case for free.
Near the speaker's podium was a poster for the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights featuring Colotl's image and the slogans "Education not deportation" and "I march for Jessica."
Colotl's case has prompted pro-immigrant and human rights organizations to renew calls for the termination of the 287(g) program, an agreement local law enforcement agencies, such as the Cobb Sheriff's Office, have with immigration officials to check the status of everyone taken into custody. Opponents say the program promotes racial profiling and tears apart families.
Colotl was handed over to immigration authorities following her first arrest under the 287(g) program. At the urging of KSU, Colotl's friends and advocacy groups, ICE agreed to defer her case for a year until she completed her degree. She was then released from a federal detention center in Alabama.
Colotl was released from jail about 11:40 a.m. Friday. Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren secured a warrant Wednesday night to arrest Colotl, 21, on a felony charge alleging she made a false statement about her address on a jail booking form. A KSU officer had arrested Colotl in March on a charge of driving without a license.
A spokeswoman for Warren said he would be unavailable to comment about the rally for Colotl on Friday. She referred a reporter to a written statement Warren issued Thursday that said “it is sad that Ms. Colotl’s parents chose to enter the United States illegally and ultimately put her in this position.”
Warren said that his investigation revealed that she had never lived at the address listed on her booking records.
Taylor, Colotl's attorney, said that she had lived at the Duluth address as recently as November 2009 and her motor vehicle insurance and car registration paperwork were still being mailed there.
Colotl gave deputies her old address, Taylor said, because it matched her car insurance paperwork. On the same day, she also gave immigration enforcement officers her current address in Norcross. Sheriff's deputies should have known where to find her, Taylor said.
An ICE spokesman said Friday that the agency chose not to detain Colotl again following her second arrest. Her case will be reviewed again on its merits at the conclusion of the deferment period.
Colotl was accepted to KSU in 2006 as an in-state student, which was in keeping with the policy of the Board of Regents at the time. The following year, the rules were changed so that undocumented students could no longer receive in-state tuition, which costs about a quarter of out-of-state tuition.
Colotl was still paying in-state tuition up until her March arrest. That's when university officials learned she was an illegal immigrant, according to a statement KSU issued Friday. The university's administration said from now on she will be charged out-of-state tuition rates.
Chris Kuck, an Atlanta immigration attorney who is representing Colotl, said because she entered the country illegally as a minor, there is no path to legalization open to her. She has an academic scholarship to KSU, but she has not been receiving federal or state financial aid, including the merit-based HOPE scholarship.
While she had high enough grades for the HOPE scholarship, Kuck said she never applied. Only Georgia residents are eligible for the scholarship, which covers tuition and other expenses at public colleges.
“She’s not eligible for HOPE,” Kuck said. “You have to be a Georgia resident. She paid for it all on her own.”
Kuck said he is trying to get her a work permit, since her deferment status with ICE means she is technically authorized to be in the country now. If she gets a work permit, Colotl might again be eligible for in-state tuition, he said.
Staff writer Jim Galloway contributed to this article.