Illegal immigrants to rally, protest in Atlanta
April 5, 2011
By KATE BRUMBACK - Associated Press

ATLANTA -- A group of illegal immigrants who were brought to this country as children plans to hold a rally Tuesday in downtown Atlanta and then sit down in an intersection to block traffic to draw attention to their situation.

The young people plan to speak out about their experiences and to publicly identify themselves as being in the country illegally at a demonstration on the downtown campus of Georgia State University. After the rally, they plan to go to a nearby intersection to block traffic.

"It's very important for us to do this right now because we see that here in the South there's a very hostile environment to undocumented immigrants," said Georgina Perez, a 21-year-old whose parents brought her to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 3 years old.

Perez and the other illegal immigrants who plan to come out Tuesday declaring themselves "undocumented and unafraid" say they want their action to inspire other young people around the country who are in the same situation to "come out of the shadows." They hope that will spur lawmakers at the national level to address their situation.

They are a part of The Dream is Coming project, which was created to advocate for the DREAM Act, legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for certain young people who were brought here at a young age. It has failed to pass Congress several times, most recently in December.

The young illegal immigrant activists have expanded their focus to protesting laws that bar illegal immigrants from higher education and also oppose crackdowns on illegal immigration proposed in many states, including Georgia, this year after Arizona enacted a tough new law last year.

Some in Congress who thought comprehensive immigration reform would be too tough to push through thought the DREAM Act might be easier because it would benefit young people who find themselves in the country illegally due to the actions of their parents. But critics of that legislation - who often agree that these young people are in an unfortunate situation - say it doesn't change the fact that they're here illegally.

Legislation proposed in Georgia this year would have banned illegal immigrants from attending state colleges and universities, a law that already exists in neighboring South Carolina. Several other states have seen similar legislation filed. The Georgia bill failed, but the state's university system late last year approved a rule that that says schools who have rejected any academically qualified applicants in the two most recent academic years - which applies to the five most competitive public schools in the state - cannot accept illegal immigrant applicants.

"We need to stop this because it keeps spreading," Perez said.

They have started using civil disobedience as a tool in their fight, including a high-profile sit-in at the Tucson offices of U.S. Sen. John McCain, when some of them were arrested. They have likened their struggle to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and say they are bolstered by support from some of the leaders of that movement.


http://oneoldvet.com/

www.macon.com