DEFEAT SB 458 ! - Tonna Harris-Bosselmann speaks at Press Conference Feb.28th, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February, 28, 2012
WHAT: USG and Ga Public Schools Students and Educators Hold Press Conference, Rally Against Ban on Public Higher Education, SB 458
WHO: The Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance, ACLU of Georgia, Freedom University, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, USG Students and Educators, K-12 Students and Educators, Senator Nan Orrock, Representative Pedro Marin, and others
WHEN: Tuesday, February 28, 10:00am
WHERE: Washington St. side of Georgia State Capitol
Atlanta, Georgia---On Tuesday, February 28th, the Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance (GUYA), the ACLU of Georgia, Freedom University, and the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) held a press conference at the Capitol. Here, Georgia Public Schools and University System of Georgia students and educators, as well as state legislators, voiced their strong opposition to Senate Bill 458, a new bill that would ban undocumented students from all public colleges and universities in Georgia, as well as make some amendments to HB 87. The bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday despite strong public opposition after being introduced just days before.
Elizabeth Garibay, a Senior at Clark Central High School in Athens who came to the U.S. with her parents at age five, asked,
"If anyone in my situation is good enough for Yale or Cornell, why is she being cornered and repudiated in Georgia? Why is the state I've called home for 13 years condemning me to carry such guilt and shame for something over which I had no control?"
Some students who were already priced out of college by mandatory out-of-state tuition find temporary refuge in Freedom University, a volunteer organization that offers free college-level classes to all, regardless of immigration status. Nayeli Quezada, a student at Freedom University, came to the press conference today "to give her dream a voice and a face," and to remind Georgia's Senators that "education is not a crime!" While Freedom University gave her the opportunity to continue learning, she fears that SB 458, like HB 59, would bar her and her younger brother from ever receiving a degree in their home state.
Students, documented and undocumented, were joined by their teachers. Andrew Epstein, a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Georgia called out some legislators for failing to address the real issues facing the state: " Instead of addressing the real crises of higher education in Georgia, like the fact that only 3.6% of Zell Miller Scholarship recipients were African American, some members of congress shamefully scapegoat taxpaying undocumented youth and families."
Tonna Harris-Bosselmann, a representative of GATESOL, highlighted what happens when the state chooses not to educate all of its youth to the best of its ability: "There are more teen pregnancies, more substance abuse, more crime, more incarceration, all of which are a burden to the tax payer." Georgia spends more than one billion dollars annually on Corrections alone.
Speakers and supporters also participated in the ACLU of Georgia's "By the People" Immigrants' Rights Lobby Day immediately following the press conference. The Lobby Day focused on opposing SB 458.
"Allowing access to public higher education to undocumented students is in full compliance with federal law as confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security and as evidenced by the fact that 48 other states allow access to all students," said Azadeh Shahshahani of the ACLU of Georgia.
"We call on Georgia legislators to reject this fundamentally unjust and economically shortsighted measure."
For further information, please contact Allie McCullen at [email protected] or 404-519-3921.
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Allie McCullen
[email protected]
(404) 519-3921
Georgia Students for Public Higher Education
http://georgiastudents.org
[email protected]