Center for Immigration Studies Offers Analysis, Recommendations
WASHINGTON (May 13, 2010) â The Center for Immigration Studies has prepared a synopsis of the information that has been released on Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzadâs immigration history, plus policy recommendations that would reduce the risks inherent in U.S. visa and immigration programs. The report, written by Jessica Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, reveals a familiar pattern of a terrorist easily taking advantage of weak spots in Americaâs immigration system. Shahzad was admitted long before 9/11, but the openings he exploited are still in place today.
Contrary to what some news media have stated, it is not completely clear that Shahzad always maintained legal status. In addition, there are aspects of his immigration history that indicate his awareness of how to work our system and that he was planning to engage in terrorism for some time. Moreover, Shahzad was born in Pakistan, traveled there often and received his terrorist training there. Thus, it seems inaccurate to describe him a âhome grownâ terrorist as some reporters have done. Nor does it seem accurate to describe his terrorism as simply a case of âa legal immigrantâs failed American Dreamâ, as suggested by CBS news.
June 30, 1979 â Born in Pakistan.
December 22, 1998 â Issued student visa in Islamabad. It is difficult to justify the issuance of this student visa. Shahzad certainly failed to demonstrate that he had âsufficient academic preparation to pursue the intended course of studyâ at the University of Bridgeport, as the regulations required. He was applying as a transfer student, and his transcript from his correspondence course with Southeastern University, a now defunct fourth-rate academic program, showed a GPA of 2.78, including several Dâs and an F (in statistics). Moreover, during the 1990s, the University of Bridgeport was financially and academically troubled, with its accreditation and reputation in serious jeopardy, and actively seeking foreign students to compensate for plummeting U.S. enrollment. Not only was the visa a mistake, but the visa officer appears to have erred in giving Shahzad a four-year visa when two would have sufficed to complete the program that Shahzad reportedly told officials he wanted to complete. Many news accounts have asserted that Shahzad underwent a âcriminal background checkâ in order to qualify for the visa. Not exactly â in 1998 this would have been a check of CLASS, the consular database with information on prior refusals, ineligibilities, and derogatory information such as federal arrest warrants, and TIPOFF, which was a watchlist of known and suspected terrorists. Todayâs watchlists and databases are far more comprehensive, but would not have provided grounds for refusal, as Shahzad apparently had no serious criminal history. But under the law the mere absence of a criminal or terrorist history is not enough by itself to qualify for a U.S. visa. For more on temporary visas, see Center for Immigration Studies Backgrounders ‘Shortcuts to Immigration’ and ‘No Coyote Needed,’ online at www.cis.org.
Fall 2000 â Graduates from University of Bridgeport, Conn. Several media reports have noted that Shahzad was flagged by border officials for carrying large sums of cash into the United States and for his repeated visits home to Pakistan. Even though foreign students are supposed to pay their own way, private papers uncovered by an intrepid local newspaper reporter revealed that Shahzad had been awarded a grant of $6,700 from the University of Bridgeport to help cover his tuition.
2001 â Begins working for a temporary staffing agency. Shahzad entered on a student visa, which does not include permission to work. It has been reported that he was granted Optional Practical Training status, which allows foreign students to stay and work after graduating (the âtrainingâ label is really a work permit). If so, there would be an application and a work permit on file with the school and with USCIS. The details are a little sketchy; it is not clear from the timing of his employment that this was feasible. The fact that any foreign student can get approval to remain here after graduating to work at a temporary staffing agency under the guise of âpractical trainingâ is an illustration of just how absurd our immigration system has become.
2002 â Issued H-1B visa. Shahzad was sponsored by Elizabeth Arden to work in a low level accounting job under the H-1B visa program. This would seem to support the argument that the visa program brings in primarily ordinary workers, not the best and the brightest as its defenders claim.
2004 â Obtains mortgage with Huma Anif Mian (U.S. citizen and future spouse).
2004 â Comes under scrutiny of the local Joint Terrorism Task Force. The JTTFs are local, multi-agency units that investigate cases related to national security. No information has been released as to why the JTTF was interested in Shahzad. Some media have reported suspicions that he had ties to Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical Muslim cleric who inspired several of the 9/11 hijackers, the Ft. Hood murderer, and the Christmas Day underwear bomber.
February 2005 â U.S. citizen wife files green card petition. Neighbors of Shahzadâs bride have told reporters that he had visited her in Colorado just once before she left to marry him.
January 2006 â Green card approved. USCIS was apparently unconcerned about either the suddenness of the marriage or the JTTF investigation. Immigration benefits adjudicators have little time or incentive to review cases closely. This case demonstrates the basic reality that the green card application process is firmly rigged in the alienâs favor, with few applications refused or challenged, especially those involving marriage to a U.S. citizen. Marriage to a U.S. citizen is one of the easiest and most popular ways for illegal aliens (and terrorists) to obtain a green card. See the Center for Immigration Studies Backgrounder ‘Hello, I Love You, Wonât You Tell Me Your Name: Inside the Green Card Marriage Phenomenon.’
October 2008 â Applies for citizenship. Shahzad wasted no time applying for U.S. citizenship, which can happen after three years of marriage to a U.S. citizen, compared with five years of residency for other legal immigrants. Shahzadâs alacrity in submitting his citizenship application is very unusual. The average immigrant waits six to ten years before applying, according to DHS statistics. For one thing, the process is expensive ($675) and includes a lot of paperwork and passing a test. His U.S. citizenship makes travel abroad much easier as U.S. citizens face less scrutiny than foreign nationals when coming and going from the country and, unlike green card-holders, citizens can stay overseas indefinitely without losing status. Becoming a U.S. citizen did not require Shahzad to give up his Pakistani passport, this can be useful in concealing long periods of travel to countries like Pakistan without drawing the attention of immigration inspectors at U.S. ports of entry upon return.
April 17, 2009 â Sworn in as a U.S. citizen. Again, it appears that USCIS was untroubled by or unaware of the previous JTTF investigation.
June 2, 2009 â Departs for Pakistan.
February 3, 2010 â Returns to the United States.
May 1, 2010 â Attempts to set off bomb in Times Square.
Center for Immigration Studies Policy Recommendations
It will always be difficult for visa and immigration officers to identify or predict which applicants pose a security or safety threat. But experience has shown that more effective application of the laws would enhance the integrity of the system overall and make it more difficult for illegitimate visitors to gain access, thus limiting the risk inherent in every visa or immigration program. It is possible to accomplish this without interfering with the flow of legitimate visitors.
The State Department should withdraw the current guidance for consular officers that encourages lenience in student visa issuances and develop new guidance that encourages strict application of the law in terms of applicant qualifications, funding, and requiring the applicant to demonstrate a strong likelihood of returning home. This would result in fewer unqualified student visa issuances and reinforce the public diplomacy goals of the student visa program â that foreign students put their U.S. education and positive experience in America to good use back home, thus strengthening ties between the two nations.
The State Department and DHS need to move more quickly to post additional DHS Visa Security officers in consulates overseas to help review cases.
The State Department should create a corps of consular specialists to supplement the new junior officers now relied upon to adjudicate visas.
DHS should review more frequently and more strictly the qualifications of educational institutions that are permitted to host foreign students. Schools whose academic accreditation is non-existent or at risk should not be allowed to admit new foreign students.
Congress should eliminate the Optional Practical Training provision because it lacks the oversight necessary to ensure that it provides bona fide training and is not used merely to prolong U.S. residence. In addition, OPT undercuts the public diplomacy aspects of the student visa program by encouraging students to remain here, and it reduces job opportunities for U.S. graduates.
The H-1B program should be reformed, switching it from a cheap labor program that provides a back door to green card status to one that enables U.S. companies to hire only uniquely qualified and well-compensated foreign nationals.
The USCIS national security and fraud detection office needs to be transformed from a unit that emphasizes studying security risks and fraud to one that works to identify and deny risky applicants and to prevent, detect, and prosecute fraud.
# # #
The Center for Immigration Studies is not affiliated with any other organization.
Subject: Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen. I want to explain SB 1070
I’m Arizona State Senator Sylvia Allen. I want to explain SB 1070 which I voted for and was just signed by Governor Jan Brewer.
Rancher Rob Krantz was murdered by the drug cartel on his ranch a month ago. I participated in a senate hearing two weeks ago on the border violence, here is just some of the highlights from those who testified.
The people who live within 60 to 80 miles of the Arizona/Mexico Border have for years been terrorized and have pleaded for help to stop the daily invasion of humans who cross their property . One Rancher testified that 300 to 1200 people a DAY come across his ranch vandalizing his property, stealing his vehicles and property, cutting down his fences, and leaving trash. In the last two years he has found 17 dead bodies and two Koran bibles.
Another rancher testified that daily drugs are brought across his ranch in a military operation. A point man with a machine gun goes in front, 1/2 mile behind are the guards fully armed, 1/2 mile behind them are the drugs, behind the drugs 1/2 mile are more guards. These people are violent and they will kill anyone who gets in the way. This was not the only rancher we heard that day that talked about the drug trains.
One man told of two illegal’s who came upon his property one shot in the back and the other in the arm by the drug runners who had forced them to carry the drugs and then shot them. Daily they listen to gun fire during the night it is not safe to leave his family alone on the ranch and they can’t leave the ranch for fear of nothing being left when they come back.
The border patrol is not on the border. They have set up 60 miles away with check points that do nothing to stop the invasion. They are not allowed to use force in stopping anyone who is entering. They run around chasing them, if they get their hands on them then they can take them back across the border.
Federal prisons have over 35% illegal’s and 20% of Arizona prisons are filled with illegal’s. In the last few years 80% of our law enforcement that have been killed or wounded have been by an illegal.
The majority of people coming now are people we need to be worried about. The ranchers told us that they have seen a change in the people coming they are not just those who are looking for work and a better life.
The Federal Government has refused for years to do anything to help the border states . We have been over run and once they are here we have the burden of funding state services that they use. Education cost have been over a billion dollars. The healthcare cost billions of dollars. Our State is broke, $3.5 billion deficit and we have many serious decisions to make. One is that we do not have the money to care for any who are not here legally. It has to stop.
The border can be secured. We have the technology we have the ability to stop this invasion. We must know who is coming and they must come in an organized manner legally so that we can assimilate them into our population and protect the sovereignty of our country. We are a nation of laws. We have a responsibility to protect our citizens and to protect the integrity of our country and the government which we live under.
I would give amnesty today to many, but here is the problem, we dare not do this until the Border is secure. It will do no good to forgive them because thousands will come behind them and we will be over run to the point that there will no longer be the United States of America but a North American Union of open borders. I ask you what form of government will we live under? How long will it be before we will be just like Mexico , Canada or any of the other Central American or South American countries? We have already lost our language, everything must be printed in Spanish also. We have already lost our history it is no longer taught in our schools. And we have lost our borders.
The leftist media has distorted what SB 1070 will do. It is not going to set up a Nazi Germany . Are you kidding. The ACLU and the leftist courts will do everything to protect those who are here illegally, but it was an effort to try and stop illegal’s from setting up businesses, and employment, and receiving state services and give the ability to local law enforcement when there is probable cause like a traffic stop to determine if they are here legally. Federal law is very clear if you are here on a visa you must have your papers on you at all times. That is the law. In Arizona all you need to show you are a legal citizen is a driver license, MVD identification card, Native American Card, or a Military ID. This is what you need to vote, get a hunting license, etc.. So nothing new has been added to this law. No one is going to be stopped walking down the street etc… The Socialist who are in power in DC are angry because we dare try and do something and that something the Socialist wants us to do is just let them come. They want the “Transformation” to continue.
Maybe it is too late to save America . Maybe we are not worthy of freedom anymore. But as an elected official I must try to do what I can to protect our Constitutional Republic . Living in America is not a right just because you can walk across the border. Being an American is a responsibility and it comes by respecting and upholding the Constitution the law of our land which says what you must do to be a citizen of this country. Freedom is not free.
A Kennesaw State University student whom authorities said was in the U.S. illegally turned herself in to police on Friday morning, and was later released. Jessica Colotl spoke Friday about her situation at a press conference held by her attorneys and her supporters.
A warrant was issued Thursday for 21-year-old Jessica Colotl. She turned herself in Friday morning around 9 a.m., and was released from jail on $2,500 bond just before noon.
Colotl spoke at a news conference Friday afternoon, just hours after she turned herself in to Cobb County deputies. Also in attendance at the news conference were many organizations that support her, including Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR), the Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU Georgia, and the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.
An emotional Colotl said sheâs looking forward to graduation. She said she doesnât have a criminal record, and she never thought she would be âcaught up in this messed up system,â as she put it.
Jessica Colotl, who is from Mexico, was originally arrested in March for driving without a license. She was pulled over by KSU campus police, and after her arrest she was turned over to immigration authorities.
She was nearly deported, but school officials intervened and Colotl was granted a one-year deferment to finish college before she would have to leave the country. She was released from immigration detention just last week.
But now, Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren says she gave false information about where she lived when she was arrested in March.
According to the sheriff, Colotl allegedly claimed she lived at a Duluth apartment complex when she didnât. Sheâs accused of making false statements during her previous arrest. Sheriff Warren says situations like this make it difficult for his deputies to do their jobs, but activists accuse him of being vindictive.
Colotl was brought to the U.S. by her mother when she was 10. She graduated from a Georgia high school, and she was one semester short of finishing her college degree when she was stopped on campus and arrested.
Her supporters called for a resolution to the dispute over Colotlâs immigration status. They held fliers from GLAHR that read, âEducation, Not Deportation,â for Colotl.
Federal law says post-secondary education is a public benefit, and illegal immigrants are not eligible for public benefits. But the statement issued Friday by KSU references Regents policy rather than federal law, and D.A. King, an anti-illegal immigrant activist says that is wrong.
The Board of Regents sets policy for the 35 public colleges in the University System of Georgia.
“The Board of Regents allowing an illegal alien into our publicly funded post-secondary education system is a violation of both federal and state law,” said King, who is considering initiating lawsuits in both federal and state courts against the Board of Regents, including seeking a temporary restraining order to stop all admissions until the Regents comes into compliance.
Jessica Colotl: The open borders/illegal alien lobby finds a new victim of geography.For those who have not been following the case of the latest victim of borders and immigration laws here in Georgia, see HERE for background.
Illegal KSU student: ‘messed-up system’(Note from D.A.- she means becasue we have borders and immigration laws)
by Kathryn Dobies and Jon Gillooly
May 15, 2010
ATLANTA – Following her second arrest and release from jail, Kennesaw State University student and illegal immigrant Jessica Colotl said Friday that she wasn’t a criminal and was surprised to be caught up in an immigration battle that she said she perceives to be the result of a “messed-up system.” “I’m just hoping for the best and I really believe that something positive should come out of this, probably an immigration reform or at least the Dream Act, which would help this sentence,” Colotl said. Before a lively crowd of supporters at …
HERE
———– KSU still sidesteps questions
by Kim Isaza
KENNESAW – Kennesaw State University officials issued a new position statement Friday on the Jessica Colotl case, sidestepping written questions the Journal submitted to President Dr. Dan Papp.
The president has had several media requests for interviews this week regarding Colotl, an illegal immigrant attending KSU, and is unable to grant them, said Arlethia Perry-Johnson, special assistant to the president.
“The immigration debate is volatile and center stage in our nation. However, KSU’s administration will not become embroiled in that debate. Our focus has been and remains on ensuring that we are in full compliance with all Board of Regents’ policies that address the classification of undocumented students,” according to the unsigned position statement sent by Perry-Johnson.
The statement also reiterated the school’s actions on Colotl’s behalf.
“The university attorney attempted to ascertain Ms. Colotl’s legal status and contacted her country’s consular officials and her attorney; she NEVER offered legal advice of any sort; The university’s chief student affairs officer contacted Ms. Colotl’s sorority sisters – who were speaking to the media on her behalf – to ascertain her status, and to inquire as to what assistance could be provided regarding her matriculation, etc.; and KSU’s president wrote a letter to the judge, asking that ‘WITHIN THE LETTER OF THE LAW,’ Ms. Colotl be permitted to complete her studies at KSU,” according to the statement.
“Since learning of Ms. Colotl’s immigration status, KSU’s administration has determined that she must be, and will be, charged out-of-state tuition rates for any future courses in which she enrolls at the university. There also has been conjecture regarding whether or not undocumented students at KSU receive either federal or state financial aid. For the record, neither form of aid is afforded to undocumented students at KSU,” according to the statement.
Among the questions the Journal had asked Papp is why public employees expended any time or effort assisting an illegal immigrant, and whether Colotl would be allowed to finish her spring-semester classes.
Federal law says post-secondary education is a public benefit, and illegal immigrants are not eligible for public benefits. But the statement issued Friday by KSU references Regents policy rather than federal law, and D.A. King, an anti-illegal immigrant activist says that is wrong.
The Board of Regents sets policy for the 35 public colleges in the University System of Georgia.
“The Board of Regents allowing an illegal alien into our publicly funded post-secondary education system is a violation of both federal and state law,” said King, who is considering initiating lawsuits in both federal and state courts against the Board of Regents, including seeking a temporary restraining order to stop all admissions until the Regents comes into compliance. HERE
—————– Activists go after Cobb sheriff, say actions politically motivated
by By Kathryn Dobies and Jon Gillooly
May 15, 2010 12:00 AM
ATLANTA – Immigration activists at Jessica Colotl’s Friday press conference called for Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren’s resignation and went after several local and state politicians.
Activists and members of human rights groups joined Colotl – an illegal immigrant and Kennesaw State University student – and denounced Warren’s recent actions, calling them politically motivated.
“It’s really unfortunate that her family has been used by ‘Wild West Warren’ for a political ploy to score political points,” said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director for the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. “It’s shameful that a law enforcement official would use the rule of law and the authority given to him by Cobb County voters to abuse that power and to create a massive manhunt for a college student, a non criminal.”
Warren maintains that he was enforcing the law, as is his duty under oath, and was not encouraged by anyone to pursue the situation.
Colotl, 21, was stopped on KSU campus March 29 for a traffic violation and later arrested for driving without a valid license. After Colotl was booked into Cobb Jail, she was turned over to immigration authorities. She was taken to the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden, Ala., on April 1, but was released May 5. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities agreed to defer any action against her for one year so she could return to her studies at the university.
On Wednesday evening, however, the Cobb Sheriff’s Office obtained a warrant for Colotl on a felony charge of lying to law-enforcement officials, based on a reportedly false address she provided upon her book-in at the Cobb County Jail in March. On Friday morning, Colotl turned herself into Cobb authorities and was released on a $2,500 bond.
Rich Pellegrino, of Cobb Immigrant Alliance, said his group would soon be asking for Warren’s resignation.
“Next week we will be releasing information we have documented proof that Sheriff Neil Warren has been selectively enforcing the law, looking to the side when other people have identity issues, other people who are friends of his have identity documents, false documents, we will be releasing that next week and calling for the resignation and removal of Sheriff Neil Warren,” Pellegrino said.
Gonzalez even called for President Barack Obama to step in, asking him to take away an agreement, known as 287(g), which Cobb County has with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency to check the immigration status of everyone booked into the county jail. The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office was the first agency in Georgia to participate in 287(g). Since July 2007, Warren’s office has identified more than 6,600 inmates who were in the United States illegally. Warren signed a new 287(g) agreement in October 2009.
In defense of his latest actions, Warren said Friday that his staff went to the Duluth address that Colotl provided to his department during her first book-in and met with the manager of Century Park Apartments, only to find that Colotl did not live there.
“I have all the confidence in the world that my investigators did a thorough investigation,” Warren said. “And they presented a case to the magistrate, and the magistrate judge felt there was probable cause to issue the warrant. So it’s time for us to let the courts and the judge decide … We started getting calls and I felt obligated to look into it. I did not have any encouragement to do anything.”
Warren said he has no intentions of resigning.
Regarding Colotl’s late March booking in Cobb Jail and the tools used to determine the status of an inmate, Warren said, “some may think it is unfortunate that minor offenders are caught in the 287(g) net; but I value any tool that helps me enforce the law and remove violators from our community. Georgia law establishes legal criteria for every potential offender, from traffic violations thru capital felony murder. Often individuals have different perceptions or personal definitions of criminal activity. I follow the Georgia Code and enforce those statutes. That is my oath of office and duty to the citizens of Cobb County.”
Following Friday’s press conference, Christopher Taylor, Colotl’s attorney, was critical of the Journal for its reporting, saying the Journal was responsible for Colotl’s second arrest.
“I believe the Marietta Daily Journal and the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office misreported this issue,” Taylor said. “I’ve got a problem with the Marietta Daily Journal … Reporting that she gave a false address caused a fire storm.”
However, the Journal brought Colotl’s story to light on May 1 because her friends and sorority sisters from Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority reached out to the newspaper, asking for coverage of a march for Colotl at the state Capitol.
In an attempt to contact Colotl, the Journal called her previous attorney, Kazuma Sonoda, of the Sonoda Law Firm, sent her a message via Facebook and finally went to the Duluth address she provided to authorities on May 7. At the address, a woman answered and said she still receives mail for Colotl, but has never met the KSU student.
Taking jabs at politicians Friday, Gonzalez said, “(Former) state Rep. Nathan Deal has said he wants to bring Arizona along to Georgia as governor. (Former) state Sen. Eric Johnson wants to ban access to college education to deserving students like Jessica. They want to kick them out of school. Is that the kind of Georgia that we want?”
Johnson, a Republican candidate for governor, on Friday challenged a statement from the chancellor of the University System of Georgia that it would be too costly to require verifying citizenship when a student goes through the admissions process.
“This is a typical bureaucratic response. First and foremost, we cannot afford to simply ignore the law, and it is unacceptable to brazenly dismiss the responsibility of enforcement,” Johnson said. “… It does not cost a dime to ask for a valid driver’s license, valid passport, or valid student visa.”
KSU officials have said that Colotl was receiving in-state tuition since she graduated from a Georgia high school.
Gonzalez went on to say that Georgia has “no leadership from both of our U.S. senators.”
“Where is Saxby Chambliss and where is Johnny Isakson? Instead of saying no on immigration reform, why are they not working to move forward with a workable solution that moves us together as a nation to uphold our values as a nation? (Isakson) You are up for re-election sir. There are a 160,000 Latinos registered to vote. We are paying attention to this issue,” he said.
In response, Isakson told the Journal, “I have always drawn a clear distinction between legal and illegal immigration, and anyone who comes to our country legally should be welcomed to share in the pursuit of the American dream. At the same time, the defense of our nation begins with securing our borders and ending the opportunity for illegal entry. Our immigration laws must be followed and they must be enforced, and I stand in full support of those who do both.” HERE
Illegal immigrant KSU student hopes to stay in U.S.
By Rhonda Cook and Andria Simmons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
May 14, 2010
Hours after being released from jail, a Kennesaw State University student who has become the focus of a heated immigration debate told supporters and reporters “I never thought I was going to be caught up in this messed-up system.”
Jessica Colotl, flanked by her immigration and criminal defense attorneys, said Friday that she is evaluating whether to return to school and hoping that proposed national immigration reforms will help her stay in the country after graduation.
The rally held at Plaza Fiesta off Buford Highway in Atlanta was organized by several Latino community groups and human rights organizations. Posted near the speaker’s podium was a poster for the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights featuring Colotl’s image and the slogan “I march for Jessica.”
“I just hope for the best,” Colotl said. “I hope something positive comes out of this because we really need reform.”
Colotl was released from jail on $2,500 bond about 11:40 a.m. Friday. Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren secured a warrant Wednesday night to arrest Colotl, 21, on charges of lying about her address on a jail booking form. A KSU officer had arrested Colotl in March on a charge of driving without a license.
Colotl’s attorney, Christopher Taylor, said his client had lived at the Duluth address listed on her booking records as recently as November 2009. Her motor vehicle insurance and car registration paperwork were still being mailed there, Taylor said.
Taylor said that Colotl gave deputies her old address because it matched her car insurance paperwork. He said that on the same day, she also gave immigration enforcement officers her current address in Norcross and that sheriff’s deputies should have known where to find her.
Colotl was in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement following her first arrest, but at the urging of KSU, Colotl’s friends and advocacy groups, ICE agreed to defer her case until she completed her degree. She was released from a federal detention center in Alabama and allowed to return to the metro Atlanta area.
Warren said he issued the arrest warrant this week after learning that Colotl gave a false address when she was booked into the jail for the traffic violation in March.
Immigration attorney Chris Kuck said he had been in touch with ICE locally and nationally, and he did not expect federal officials to rearrest Colotl because of the latest alleged infraction. He said since she has been granted a one-year deferral by ICE, she is now pursuing her studies legally. He hopes to get her a work permit so she can again receive the less expensive in-state tuition status at Kennesaw State University.
Ivan Ortiz-Delgado, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday that the recent charges brought against Colotl will require the agency to reconsider her status.
“The charges brought against her changed the conditions” that led to ICE’s decision to defer her case and release her from custody, Ortiz-Delgado said.
“ICE will review Ms. Colotl’s case again and make an appropriate determination,” he said. “However, that has not happened yet.”
The American Civil Liberties Union on Friday accused Warren of “misplaced priorities and abusing the power granted to him” by the 287(g) program, which trains local law enforcement officers to work with federal authorities in identifying illegal immigrants who are arrested. The Georgia ACLU office has asked the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Division of the Department of Homeland Security and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to look at the case.
âJessicaâs case is yet another outrageous example of the unaccountable local enforcement of immigration laws in Cobb County gone awry,â said Azadeh Shahshahani, director of the ACLU of Georgia National Security/Immigrantsâ Rights Project. âIt is past time to put an immediate end to the 287(g) program in Cobb, which has led to racial profiling and the targeting of hardworking members of the community, the separation of families and the creation of an atmosphere of terror among immigrant communities in Cobb. 287(g) in Cobb has led to a less safe community for us all.â
Colotl, a Mexico native, has been in the United States for much of her life, coming here with her parents when she was 10. Friends said the family moved often until Colotl graduated from DeKalb County’s Lakeside High School in 2006 with a 3.8 grade-point average.
Her troubles began March 29 when she was stopped on the KSU campus and charged with impeding the flow of traffic. She reportedly told the officer she had a Mexican driver’s license but could not find it; she offered him a Mexican passport that expired in August 2007 as identification. While driving without a license is a relatively minor offense, making a false statement is a felony with a maximum punishment of five years in prison and a $1,000 fine.
The student, who will turn 22 next week, was arrested the next day, taken to the Cobb County jail and handed over to immigration authorities under an agreement the county has with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the 287(g) program.
Colotl was then taken to the Etowah Detention Center in Alabama to await deportation.
At the urging of KSU President Daniel Papp and others, she was released May 5 and ICE gave her a yearâs reprieve so she could complete her degree. Friends say she is two semesters away from graduating.
The 287(g) program was designed to find violent illegal immigrants, but critics say it more often catches minor offenders such as those violating traffic laws.
In television interviews over the weekend, Attorney General Eric Holder warned that Arizona’s new anti-illegal immigration law could lead to racial profiling and might prompt Latinos to stop cooperating with police. However, it emerged at a House hearing Thursday that Holder hasn’t actually read the statute…
SHOULD PEOPLE who are in this country illegally be allowed to attend Georgia’s public colleges and universities? We suspect the great majority of state residents would answer “no.”
And as a matter of fact, federal law makes it clear that those in this country without documentation are ineligible for admission to public colleges and universities – regardless of whether they are charged the “in-state” or “out-of-state” admission fee.
The U.S. Code spells out postsecondary education as a “state or local public benefit” for which aliens are ineligible. That’s because the costs of running such institutions are heavily subsidized by taxes and other public dollars.
That law – like too many others regarding illegal immigration – has been ignored for far too long.
***
THE CONTROVERSY over a Kennesaw State University student who turned out to be an illegal immigrant has been an eye-opener. We suspect few Cobb County residents had any idea that it was so easy for those in this country illegally to enroll in our state’s colleges. And we suspect few Cobb residents realized their tax dollars are going to help educate such people.
Many, including some in these pages, have criticized KSU and its president, Dr. Dan Papp, for allowing the person in question, Jessica Colotl, to enroll and for their efforts to allow her to return to school after being arrested on a traffic charge and sent to an immigration detention center in Alabama.
While Papp is not above criticism in this case, the bigger culprit would appear to be the Regents system itself, which for years has been blithely allowing illegals to enroll. Although it requires college applicants to specify on the application form whether they are U.S. citizens or not, a negative answer to that question is not grounds for rejection. Rather, if they meet other criteria and are enrolled, it merely means they must pay out-of-state tuition costs, rather than the much cheaper in-state rate.
So in a sense, some of the ire that has been directed at KSU officials should be sent to their bosses at the Regents. If the higher authority (in this case, the Board of Regents) is not going to make a big deal about adhering to immigration laws, why should the lesser authorities (in this case, the admissions office at KSU and other colleges)? It’s a parallel to the argument made by many state and local governments through the years: If Washington is not going to enforce immigration laws, how can we? Well, as we have seen, the people of Arizona have now turned that argument on its head. And that appears to be what is happening here as well.
Former state Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah), who now is running for governor, on Tuesday became the first candidate to address the KSU controversy.
“The point I’m making is to start with the Board of Regents, to create a citizenship verification for any student applying to a university, to make sure Georgia taxpayers are not subsidizing those who are not in this country legally,” Johnson said.
“When we passed Georgia’s tough illegal immigration law … we required the Board of Regents to establish a policy for nonresidents. They apparently did not do that.”
He added that if elected, he would ensure that happens.
Meanwhile, Cobb’s two candidates for state attorney general also had little sympathy for the way the case had been handled.
The state attorney general should notify all colleges that they must ensure that all students receiving HOPE scholarships or in-state tuition are in the country legally, said former Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens, who now is running for the GOP nomination as AG.
“Those benefits should be given to legal Georgia residents,” Olens said.
And state Rep. Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna), who is seeking his party’s nod as the AG nominee, said KSU’s actions in the case don’t seem right.
“It’s hard for me to see why the university’s lawyer was acting as an advocate on behalf of a student. For the university to be doing that, seems to be outside of their mission,” he said.
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INDEED. WE’RE STILL WAITING for an explanation – even a half-baked one – from the state’s higher-ed brass as to why Georgia taxpayers should be paying a dime to provide college educations for those in this country illegally. And as for their policy that illegals can be admitted, but only if they pull full tuition, why should they be enrolled at all? Those classroom seats at UGA and KSU and Georgia Tech and elsewhere rightfully belong to those who are lawful citizens of this country – and whose taxes, and the taxes of their forebears – have helped to build this state and those schools.
It’s past time for government entities across the spectrum – from the KSU campus to the Board of Regents to Atlanta to the White House – to finally show they are serious about adhering to our immigration laws.
