Thread: GA: Cobb Sheriff Asks GBI to Investigate Board of Regents

Cobb sheriff asks GBI to investigate Board of Regents
by Kathryn Dobies
kdobies@mdjonline.com
June 09, 2010 12:00 AM |

MARIETTA - Sheriff Neil Warren is calling for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to probe the University System of Georgia's governing body, the Board of Regents, for possibly violating the law by admitting illegal immigrants into the state's universities.

Anti-illegal immigration activist D.A. King filed a complaint on May 19 with the GBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, then asked Warren to assist in the matter.

In a letter dated June 4, Warren referred to King's complaint, stating that the Board of Regents is in violation of state and federal laws, which prohibit state universities from admitting illegal immigrants.

"O.C.G.A. 50-3601(c)(7) requires compliance with 8 U.S.C. 1621 which provides that aliens not legally in the United States are ineligible for certain State or local benefits, including postsecondary education," Warren writes in his letter to GBI Director Vernon Keenan.

King said he contacted Warren on May 27, after he heard no response from GBI or ICE and read comments from a GBI spokesman in the Journal. In the May 26 article, the spokesman said GBI is not legally allowed to respond to a request from a citizen to open an investigation. Instead, an investigation request must come from an elected official or law enforcement official.

King's actions to contact the GBI were prompted by the case of Kennesaw State University student Jessica Colotl, who was stopped on campus for a traffic violation and arrested March 30 for failure to provide a valid driver's license. It was later discovered that she entered the country illegally at a young age with her parents and had been paying in-state tuition since she enrolled at KSU as a freshman in fall 2006. Nonetheless, she was released from a detention center in Alabama on May 5 and ICE deferred any action against her for one year so she could return to her studies at KSU.

On May 12, the Cobb Sheriff's Office obtained a warrant for Colotl on a felony charge of lying to law-enforcement officials, based on a reportedly false address she provided upon her book-in at the Cobb County Jail in March. Some immigration activists criticized Warren for the second arrest, claiming it was selective law enforcement. On May 14, Colotl turned herself into Cobb authorities and was released on a $2,500 bond.

Warren said he filed the request with GBI because, in his opinion, the law is being violated.

"The way I read the law, I think someone is in violation of the law and I think someone independently should look into it," Warren said.

In light of the criticism Warren has received regarding the Colotl case, he said he felt it was appropriate for an independent agency to do the investigation.

"I definitely didn't ask D.A. King or any other citizens to make that request to me," Warren said. "I felt obligated once it was brought to my attention to forward it to someone to look into it."

Warren has not yet received a response from GBI.

King said he is pleased that the sheriff responded to his request, and hopes that the GBI will investigate the Board of Regents and prove that they are in violation of the law.

"I am as always very grateful for the sheriff's grave attention to duty," King said.

In his letter to the GBI, Warren also copied Gov. Sonny Perdue and Attorney General Thurbert Baker.

King went on to say: "My hope is that the GBI will investigate and confirm what is evident to anybody that can read and is a smarter than a fifth grader ... This is not only a violation of a state law, but a violation of two separate federal laws."

The Board of Regents is holding its monthly meeting today and tomorrow, and has an item on its agenda slated as a residency verification presentation by legal chief James Burns Newsome. In response to King's request to the GBI, Regents spokesman John Millsaps denied that the board is breaking the law.

King, the founder of the Dustin Inman Society, said he plans to go to the Regents' meeting to hand out copies of the federal and state laws.

"I hope they ask themselves the question, how many real immigrants and American citizens have been put out of a classroom seat because of their violation of the law?" he said.

http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_stor ... _news_left

The Federal law referred to above can be found here, http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-...SCC14&PDFS=YES

Regents order colleges to review students' citizenship status

By Laura Diamond
June 9, 2010
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The State Board of Regents waded deeper into the national debate over illegal immigration Wednesday by taking several steps to make sure undocumented students aren't charged the cheaper in-state tuition reserved for Georgia residents.

Illegal immigrants are allowed to attend public college in Georgia, but they are required to pay more expensive out-of-state tuition. Regents have fielded questions over how colleges verify residency and tuition charges in the wake of a controversy involving an undocumented student at Kennesaw State University who was found to be paying the lower cost.

A new committee will examine the most efficient and cost-effective ways to check the citizenship of all students, Board Chairman Robert Hatcher said. The committee, which includes five regents and four university presidents, will recommend by October ways to prevent or catch undocumented students from getting in-state tuition.

The board also approved two measures to reaffirm orders Chancellor Erroll Davis issued in 2006 and again last month addressing the issue of undocumented students.

The first measure bars university presidents from granting in-state tuition waivers to undocumented students. The second gives colleges 60 days to review the applications of all students admitted to their institutions for the first time this coming fall to make sure undocumented students don't receive in-state tuition or any other aid prohibited under law.

"If we don't do something, the public will think, just like every bureaucratic agency, that we're going to study it to death," said Regent Ken Bernard, who wrote both measures.

The actions were in response to the case of Jessica Colotl, a Kennesaw State student who entered this country illegally when she was 10.

After she was stopped for a traffic violation in March, immigration authorities began deportation proceedings when her citizenship status was discovered. She was subsequently given a one-year reprieve so she could complete her degree. Prior to her arrest Colotl paid in-state tuition because college officials were not aware of her status. She will now be charged out-of-state tuition.

The "board's policy is well within the law," said Burns Newsome, vice chancellor of legal affairs.

Some disagree. Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate the regents for possibly violating the law by admitting illegal immigrants.

Newsome said the board's policy is sound and meets federal and state statutes. Some guidance came from a 2008 letter from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement which explains that admission of an illegal immigrant to a public college is not barred under federal law. These students are barred from receiving a publicly-financed benefit, such as federal loans or work study programs, Newsome said.

Georgia passed a law in 2006 directing the regents to assure universities don't give illegal immigrants benefits prohibited under federal law. Davis and Newsome concluded that lower in-state tuition would be such a benefit.

Davis admitted the university system has "significant problems with verification."

Currently students are asked to answer questions about their citizenship on admissions applications and officials trust applicants to tell the truth.

Newsome floated using an online federal database typically used by companies to vet employees, but questioned whether it would be timely and affordable. South Carolina, which bars illegal immigrants from its public colleges, requires students to show documentation proving their citizenship after being granted admission but before they enroll, he said.

Verification committee

The State Board of Regents appointed a committee to recommend by October the most effective and affordable ways in which colleges can verify students claims about citizenship and residency. Committee members include:

Five regents: Larry Ellis, Felton Jenkins, Jim Jolly, W.H. "Dink" NeSmith Jr. and Larry Walker.

Four university presidents: Mark Becker from Georgia State University, Virginia Carson from South Georgia College, Martha Nesbitt from Gainvesville State College and Lisa Rossbacher from Southern Polytechnic State University


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