Two young North Carolina immigration activists were arrested yesterday in Atlanta as part of a sit-in protesting Georgia’s move to block illegal immigrants from attending several of the state’s public colleges and universities.
Viridiana Martinez, 24, and Jose Rico, 22, were arrested on obstructing traffic charges along with five others protesters, all of whom who are undocumented and now stand a likely chance of being deported. (Atlanta participates in the national Secure Communities program that allows immigration officials to begin deportation proceedings against anyone jailed on criminal charges).
CNN reported on the sit-in here.
Profiles of each of the “Georgia 7,” including the two North Carolinians, can be seen at www.thedreamiscoming.com, where funds are also being raised for the protesters’ bail money.
The group held the sit-in because of a decision by the Board of Regents for Georgia’s university system to block illegal immigrants from attending several of the top-tier state colleges and universities. Here in North Carolina, students who are undocumented can attend the state’s schools but have to pay the hefty out-of-state tuition, even if they’ve been longtime residents of North Carolina.
Both states are now considering bills that would block undocumented immigrants from attending all state colleges and universities because of their immigration status. In North Carolina, the bills (House Bill 11 and House Bill 343) have been introduced by Rep. George Cleveland, a Jacksonville Republican that’s introduced several other anti-immigrant bills this session.
Martinez and Rico are active members of the NC DREAM Team, a group that formed around last year’s unsuccessful effort to pass federal legislation that would open up a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrant children brought into the United States as children who also attended college or joined the military.
On Tuesday, the two joined other students in Georgia to bring attention to the lives of thousands of young people who find themselves stuck after being brought into the United States when they were children, according to a news release from the N.C. DREAM Team.
“I’m doing this because our communities are living in fear,” Rico said in a written statement. “51,000 undocumented youth had their dreams torn apart when our senators voted against the DREAM Act. They are trying to criminalize our existence.”
Rico is a student at Wake Tech in Raleigh who planned to transfer to NC State University and pursue an engineering degree. After graduation from a North Carolina high school, Rico had been accepted at several four-year colleges but was unable to attend because of the high out-of-state tuition he would have to pay. His future plans are now up in the air, following yesterday’s arrest.
The NC Dream Team is planning to hold community vigils on Thursday evening to support Martinez and Rico. Raleigh’s vigil will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the corner of Wilmington and Lane streets, the same site where the group staged a hunger strike last year in advance of the DREAM Act vote.
Details about a Charlotte area vigil weren’t yet available, but more information about the arrests, vigils and how to help are available at www.ncdreamteam.org or www.thedreamiscoming.com.
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