Thread: Indiana protesters face deportation

5 Indiana protesters face deportation hearings



Associated Press - May 10, 2011 2:54 PM ET

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - An attorney for five young Latino illegal immigrants says they face deportation hearings after being arrested on trespassing charges at Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels' office while protesting two pending immigration laws.

Attorney Marc Lopez says each of the five was jailed Tuesday facing holds for federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to conduct deportation hearings on their residency status.

Lopez and a co-activist of the five say they have begun hunger strikes until Daniels vetoes the bills. A Marion County Jail spokesman says he's unaware of any hunger strikes.

Both anti-illegal immigration bills are due to become law this week unless Daniels vetoes them. One would deny in-state tuition at state-supported universities for illegal immigrants. The other would revoke some tax credits for businesses that hire illegal immigrants.



http://www.news25.us/Global/story.asp?S=14618064

Lopez and a co-activist of the five say they have begun hunger strikes until Daniels vetoes the bills. A Marion County Jail spokesman says he's unaware of any hunger strikes.

Perhaps they'd also like to hold their breath until we feel sorry for them.

Excellent!!!!! Any non-citizen foreign domestic urban government terrorist SHOULD BE DEPORTED IMMEDIATELY!!!!!

There were more than just 5 Illegals protesting there.

Related Post Here

Students Arrested At Statehouse Immigration Protest


http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1223392.html#1223392

RELATED

Feds lift detention holds on 5 student protesters
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-237607.html

So much for the letter of the law being followed in this case. Again, where does current immigration law make an exception for college students? Another case of defacto amnesty by the regime....

Immigration bills signed amid arrests
Lawyer says 6 students facing charges took 'a serious risk' to protest legislation
5:29 AM, May. 11, 2011




8:55 AM -- Immigration protesters released from jail


Five undocumented immigrants arrested for trespassing after slipping into the governor’s office Monday have been released from Marion County jail.

Jail spokesman Julio Fernandez said the six were each released on $150 cash bond. The first was released last night and the final one this morning.

Uriel and Erick Gama, 20; Ana Ruiz-Toyar, 23; Guadalupe Pimentel, 18; and Sayra Perez, 19 were scheduled to appear in court at 1 p.m. today, according to a spokeswoman for the group.


Gov. Mitch Daniels signed two immigration-related bills Tuesday, the day after six students were arrested at the Statehouse while protesting the legislation.

The students were cleared for release by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials when detention orders were lifted Tuesday, but it was still uncertain whether ICE would seek deportation.

Meanwhile, the students began hunger strikes Tuesday while they were in custody to protest their arrests.

While Daniels "appreciates the sincerity of their viewpoint," spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said, the governor backed Senate Bill 590, which would penalize businesses for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, and House Bill 1402, which would deny undocumented students lower in-state tuition fees.

Five undocumented immigrant students who would be affected by HB 1402 -- Uriel and Erick Gama, 20; Ana Ruiz-Toyar, 23; Guadalupe Pimentel, 18; and Sayra Perez, 19 -- were arrested on trespassing charges Monday, after slipping into Daniels' office during a student-led protest against those bills.

A sixth student, Idamarie Collazo, didn't enter the office but was arrested and charged with resisting law enforcement. She is not suspected of being an illegal immigrant.

The other five were held in the Marion County Jail, so ICE officials could review their immigration status. They were cleared for release if they posted bond; it was unclear Tuesday whether any had done so.

Their attorney, Marc Lopez, said he thought some of the students might have been released from jail, but he had no other details Tuesday night.

The students will appear in Marion Superior Court today for an initial hearing.

The Indiana protest was similar to actions taken recently elsewhere, including Tucson, Ariz., and Atlanta, to draw attention to young people who grew up here after their parents brought them to the U.S. as children.

They encourage lawmakers to pass the DREAM Act, meant to provide a path to legalization for certain illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. The act has failed in Congress several times.

The arrests have upset Indianapolis' Latino community, said Miriam Acevedo Davis, executive director of La Plaza, an Indianapolis nonprofit that helps Hispanics with education and health services. She said the students shouldn't be deported.

"I just think it's unfortunate that students who are demonstrating and asking for support (would be) arrested," she said. "These kids are American. They've grown up here."

Davis fears this case could create a "chilling effect" that would discourage other students from speaking out on immigration issues.

At the time the students were arrested, they were waiting to talk to the governor, but their meeting request had been denied. The five arrested on trespassing charges had entered an outer chamber of his office.

Lopez, who is representing the students, said his clients were exercising their First Amendment rights.

"I think these students are taking a stand for something they truly believe in," he said. "They've taken a serious risk, and they've shown tremendous courage."

Lopez was unsure Tuesday night whether ICE would try to deport the students.

But the immigration agency has a good deal of discretion when deciding whom to target, said John Broyles, an Indianapolis-based immigration attorney who is not involved in the students' case.

He said the students' admission to being undocumented likely won't hurt them, and the fact that their arrest was somewhat controversial could help them because ICE has stayed out of such cases.

On the other hand, he said, ICE in recent years has gone after more people who have committed minor crimes, like the ones the students are charged with.

Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, who authored SB 590 and is a vocal opponent of illegal immigration, said the students and their families should return to their native countries and re-enter the United States legally.

"I feel sad for (the students). I feel sad for their families," Delph said. "But I also feel like Hoosier taxpayers should not have to bear the burden because the federal government has failed to secure the borders."

Even if she's deported, Perez, who just finished her freshman year at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said protesting the laws was "absolutely" worth it because she feared such laws would hamper her ability to finish school and get a good job.

"I was raised here in Indiana," she said. "I've lived here since I was 5. I belong here."


http://www.indystar.com/article/2011051 ... id-arrests