We want the right to learn

UNDOCUMENTED HIGH school students and their supporters gathered for a "Graduation of Resistance" at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens on August 23.

Activists from Atlanta to Athens organized the more than 200-person protest to oppose the Georgia University System Board of Regents' decision to ban undocumented students from attending the top five research universities in the state, including Georgia State University, Georgia Tech and UGA.

The new rule, which bars any state college or university that has rejected academically qualified applicants in the previous two years from admitting immigrants who can't prove their legal status, goes into effect this fall semester.

"I grew up here. This is my country," 16-year-old Cedar Shoals High School sophomore Alejandro Galeana told the crowd. "This is my home just as much as anybody here. They don't even know my name. They don't even know the potential I have. I am not illegal--I am a human being!"

The rule was adopted last October in the face of a right-wing campaign claiming that Georgia state colleges and universities were being "overrun" by "illegal" immigrants whose educations were supposedly being subsidized over displaced "legal" residents.

This, of course, has no basis in fact. A study conducted in 2010 by the same Board of Regents found that only 501 students out of the total Georgia college population of 310,361 were undocumented students. That's less than 1 percent--0.1614249213013233 percent, to be exact. The study also showed that all 501 were paying out-of-state tuition rates, and that students who pay out-of-state tuition more than pay for their education.

Unfortunately, anti-immigrant forces in the state aren't letting the facts get in the way of their witch-hunt. Recently, racist "citizen-activist" D.A. King and Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren spearheaded a witch-hunt targeting an undocumented student, and now Kennesaw State University graduate, Jessica Colotl.

The two slammed Jessica with bogus charges to get her deported, even after she had won the right to remain in the country to finish her education. Jessica had been subjected to deportation proceedings for a minor traffic violation that had landed her in jail in Cobb County, where the 287(g) "Secure Communities" program in place.

THE RALLY at UGA was organized by the Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance (GUYA) and featured speeches by undocumented students like Galeana, Cedar Shoals High School senior Leeidy Solis and youth organizer Gustavo Madrigal. There were also speakers from the African American community, including civil rights activist Rev. Tim McDonald.

Madrigal ended his speech with a quote from Malcolm X: "We declare our right on this Earth to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary!"

Several UGA professors described to the crowd their plans for Freedom University 87 (FU87), which will offer a seminar course that will mirror courses taught at the most competitive schools, but that will be for undocumented students who can't take them because of the new discriminatory policy.

The project, inspired by an undocumented activist and initiated by UGA professors, now enjoys the backing of professors from what are considered some of the best schools in the nation, including MIT, Harvard, Yale and the University of California-Berkeley, to name a few. Its national board of advisers includes Pulitzer Prize winner and MIT professor Junot Diaz.

FU87's National Board of Advisers is working on getting its curriculum, which so far only contains American Civilization I, accredited by an institution outside of the state of Georgia. Undocumented students hope to be able to expand the curriculum and reach of FU87 to other parts of the state.

After the professor's announcement, students and their supporters made their way to the admissions office to hand-deliver a letter containing signatures urging the regents to lift the ban and educators to help stop the spread of the ban.

"This is a petition we are circulating," Madrigal told the admissions secretary. "We have and plan to collect many more signatures. I ask that you please make sure this gets to UGA's president and tell him that we will be back with many more."

As Madrigal and Galeana two walked out of the office, they were met by cheering protesters. With chants of "Undocumented and unafraid!" and "Up, up with education. Down, down with deportation!" the rally came to a close. Petitions were passed around, and applications for Freedom University 87.

Protesters left determined to continue the fight for the dream of education for undocumented students in Georgia and around the country. As Galeana explained, when he was younger, he was told "that if I studied, with education anything would be possible. And now I find myself fighting for my rights."