We want English as the official language of government in Georgia. That does not mean “English only” Comprende?

“Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

The Georgia state senate may soon take a vote on a resolution ( S.R. 675 ) for a constitutional amendment to strengthen Georgia’s official English law that was passed back in 1996.

If the resolution passes, the people of Georgia will be allowed to vote to answer a YES or NO ballot question when we vote for president in November on if Georgia’s official English law should be strengthened and added to the constitution of the Peach State.

At present, Georgia state agencies and local governments are allowed to issue documents in multiple foreign languages “at the discretion of their governing authorities.” The written drivers license test is given in eleven (11) languages.

The constitutional amendment would require all state documents, such as driver’s licenses, to be issued exclusively in English. Commonsense exceptions would be allowed for public safety threats and teaching English to non-fluent speakers.

*First thing to do is to call the office of lt. Governor Casey Cagle and leave a polite message: “Please tell the Lt. Governor to allow a floor vote on SR 675 this week”

Then…

Click here to identify your GA state senator and send him or her a customized email in support of strengthening English as the official language of Georgia by means of a constitutional amendment ratified by We the People of the Peach State.

WHAT IS OFFICIAL ENGLISH?

Senator Josh McKoon on his SB 6, pending in the Georgia senate – five minutes of courageous, pro-enforcement conservative common sense.

Illegal aliens protesting American borders – the banner REVCOM.US leads to “the voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party” website

It seems the revelation that Georgia has been issuing driver’s licenses to illegal aliens since July of 2012, that the majority-Republican state legislature has not stopped that hushed-up practice and that the state senate has and uses an unrecorded vote system has created renewed interest in state “politics.”
Here is more information for voters.

While there is an effort in the state senate from Senator Josh McKoon, no member of the Republican-controlled Georgia House introduced any bill to halt the driver’s licenses reward for illegals.
The illegal alien reward system here in Georgia, pushed by President Barack Obama, the ACLU, corporate-funded anti-borders groups, the agriculture lobby and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce on many weak, but willing politicians can easily be described as “California-like.”

Respectfully, whether my loyal Republican friends want to admit it or not, on capitulating to the crime of illegal immigration, selling out American workers, and the rule of law, we are clearly on the road to becoming the California of the southeast — “Georgiafornia.”

While it will be kept as quiet as possible in “the news,” here is a partial list of what to expect in the not-too-distant future of Republican Georgiafornia:

*Instate tuition for illegals in public universities — and we mean all illegals, deferred action on deportation or not — thereby allowing these victims of borders to attend University System of Georgia schools at less tuition cost than legal immigrants and American students who live in other states. This is already happening in Obama’s America now.

There is already a bill pending in the Georgia Senate aimed at giving instate tuition to DACA illegals in public universities. But unlike the original senate bill to halt driver’s licenses to illegals, it has actually seen a (Republican-chaired) committee hearing under the Gold Dome.

*HOPE Scholarships for illegal aliens. Management at Emory University, a private school and not part of the University System of Georgia, recently demonstrated its enlightenment with an announcement of a scholarship program that puts Americans behind illegal aliens with DACA status. It is only a matter of time before the Chamber of Commerce orders that the Republicans slip a bill through the legislature to match the moral superiority of the private sector colleges in taxpayer-funded schools. It will no doubt “make good business sense.”

Maybe it would see a recorded vote in the state Senate — or maybe not.

* Expanding taxpayer-funded health care for illegal aliens to include Medicaid. All illegals already get no-cost “emergency” care in any U.S. hospital. But a recent proposal in California would offer enrollment in Medi-Cal to illegal aliens. Medi-Cal is that debt-ridden state’s healthcare program for the poor.

*Luring more illegals. LikeGeorgia, Democrat-majority California — the illegal immigration capital of the world — is encouraging even more illegal alien, future Democrat voters to migrate in. One would think they had a bountiful supply of water and a surplus in their state budget.

*Legally present non-citizens — and then illegal aliens — voting in local elections. The push for this has been on for years and is now at a tipping point in New York and other oh-so-advanced states. Just behind the grand prize and ultimate objective of officially open borders, this is the trophy that makes the illegal alien lobby swoon.

*Illegal alien police officers. Incredibly, Obama’s deferred deportation illegal aliens are being hired in Chicago as law enforcement officers. Remember, “fundamental transformation” is what we were promised.

* llegal alien teachers. Another transformation already happening right now in Colorado and spreading like bed bugs.

The stated reason for hiring illegal alien teachers is the need for foreign language-speaking teachers to deal with the exploding number of non-English speaking students. Most of who came here illegally.

Colorado officials say the illegal alien teachers offer outlooks and knowledge “similar to the experiences of many of our students.”

*Illegal alien lawyers. Illegal aliens can and do already apply for and receive professional licenses in the Peach State. Coming soon to anything-for-a-buck Georgia, just like in today’s California, you will eventually see illegal aliens practicing law.

When put in place, these are laws that would be enforced.

It is easy to imagine loyal GOP readers shaking their heads in denial and murmuring, “this cannot happen here.”

Really? Think back ten years and try to imagine a majority-Republican Georgia government allowing illegal aliens to embed here with the defacto national ID — a driver’s license.

Or seeing GOP state senators demur on recording their vote on stopping that insanity.

D.A. King is president of the Cobb-based Dustin Inman Society. He is not a member of any political party

SB 6  is in the Senate Public Safety Committee and has been there for a year  with no hearing. The committee chairman is state Senator Tyler Harper. If you want to see a vote on the entire SB 6, please call senator Harper’s office and leave a short, polite note with his assistant. “We are watching. We are conservatives and think that giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens is madness. Not even Mexico gives drivers licenses to illegals. Please tell Senator Harper to send SB 6 to the senate floor.” When you are done calling, please send an email with the same message.

Contact state Senator Tyler Harper’s Atlanta office: Phone: (404) 463-5263 email: Tyler.Harper@senate.ga.gov  The office has voice mail.

The new and updated SB 6 (Republican-ruled Georgia has been issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens since 2012)

Senate Bill 6                                  Committee Substitute

Section 1
Generally – No illegal alien lawyers
Prohibits illegal aliens – including illegal aliens with deferred action on deportation status – from being licensed to practice law in Georgia. Requires use of SAVE database for partial verification. Requires non-citizen applicants for admission to the practice of law to sign affidavit swearing to legal status.

Section 2
Generally – No illegal alien public school teachers
Prohibits illegal aliens – including illegal aliens with deferred action on deportation status – from being licensed as “certified professional personnel” in public schools. Requires use of SAVE database for partial verification. Requires non-citizen applicants to become certified professional personnel to sign affidavit swearing to legal status.

Section 3
Generally – No instate tuition for illegal aliens in USG schools
Strengthens and clarifies existing law regarding eligibility for in-state tuition in the University System of Georgia. Prohibits illegal aliens – including illegal aliens with deferred action on deportation status – from receiving in-state tuition. Requires use of SAVE database for partial verification. Requires non-citizen applicants for in-state tuition to sign affidavit swearing to legal status.

Section 4
Generally – No HOPE scholarships for illegal aliens (strengthen existing regulations)
Defines “lawful alien status” for purposes of consideration of HOPE scholarships and grants. Excludes illegal aliens with deferred action on deportation status.

Section 5
Generally
Requires non-citizen applicants for HOPE scholarship benefits to sign affidavit swearing to legal status. Requires use of SAVE database for partial verification.

Section 6
Generally – No instate tuition for illegal aliens in Georgia’s Technical Colleges
Strengthens and clarifies existing law regarding eligibility for in-state tuition in the Technical College System of Georgia. Prohibits illegal aliens – including illegal aliens with deferred action on deportation status – from receiving in-state tuition. Requires non-citizen applicants for in-state tuition to sign affidavit swearing to legal status.

*Section 7    *(Remembering Dustin Inman and Kate Steinle – and to help prevent more death-by-released-criminal-alien in Georgia) GBI to make public information on criminal aliens released by Obama administration
Requires GBI to post as public information the names of aliens who have been arrested, booked, detained or incarcerated during immigration and criminal law enforcement investigations and who have been released from federal custody into Georgia communities as such names are presented within the federal Enforcement Integrated Database of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Section 8
Generally – Update legal definition of Georgia resident for a drivers license 
Updates definition of “resident” for purposes of obtaining a Georgia drivers license. Excludes illegal alien with deferred action on deportation status. Defines “personal information” to include fingerprint or other biological characteristics including DNA and retinal scan.

Section 9
Generally
Provides that the Department of Driver Services can provide copies of any record or names, addresses, driver identification numbers, and medical and disability information for purposes of participation in verification programs of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including for participation in the Records and Information from DMVs for E-Verify RIDE initiative (see section 20). Provides that DDS can also provide noncitizen DNA, fingerprints, and photographs for such U.S. Department of Homeland Security programs.

Section 10
Generally – Change drivers license document now issued to illegal aliens to a Drivers Privilege Card that clearly shows illegal status – vertically oriented
Establishes “Driver Privilege Card” (DPC) document to replace current practice of issuing drivers license to illegal aliens who have deferred action on deportation status. Prohibits use or acceptance of DPC for identification purposes except for law enforcement uses. Establishes penalty for attempted use or acceptance of DPC as valid ID. Requires fingerprint (personal record – see section 8) be collected from applicant for DPC and for fingerprint or personal record to be displayed on DPC document. Describes required specifications for design of DPC to include vertical orientation, colors and language contained on DPC document. Requires illegal aliens with deferred action on deportation who are in in possession of current drivers license to obtain a DPC upon expiration of drivers license.

Section 11
Generally
Removes “approved deferred action status” from existing law defining eligibility for a drivers license and official state ID cards. Sharpens definition of illegal alien (“lawful presence”/”legal status” on exclusion in existing law regarding acceptance of drivers licenses and official ID cards issued by other states to illegal aliens. Provides for special and redesigned official ID card to be available to illegal aliens who have deferred action on deportation status. Provides for fingerprints or personal information to be collected from applicant for special official ID card and for fingerprint to be displayed on official ID document. Provides specifications for appearance of new official Id card and requires DDs to create document to specifications, including vertical orientation and colors.

Section 12
Generally
Refines language in existing law for eligibility for drivers license or official ID card to replace “lawful presence” with “legal status” and to establish eligibility of illegal aliens with deferred action of deportation status for drivers privilege card and new official ID card.

Section 13
Generally
Changes current prohibition on collection and display of fingerprints for drivers license type document to exclude applicants who qualify for DPC and new official ID card due to deferred action on deportation status.

Section 14
Generally
Housekeeping language to slightly alter and correct existing language resulting from new language on drivers license law.

Section 15
Generally
Increases penalties for driving without being properly licensed, reduces number of convictions of driving without being licensed for offender to be guilty of a felony.

Section 16
Generally – Provides law enforcement discretion to order tow of vehicle operated by unlicensed driver
With exclusions, including for expired drivers licenses and drivers 15 years old or younger, establishes authority of peace officer to have discretion to order that a vehicle driven by an unlicensed driver be impounded for 60 days. Requires vehicle owner to pay storage fees. Allows hearing process for the owner of impounded vehicle. Requires release of vehicle to owner, or owners spouse, child or parent who is lawfully licensed to drive.

Section 17
Generally
Modifies current law regarding “abandoned motor vehicle” in accordance with Section 16

Section 18
Generally
Modifies current law regarding “duty of person removing or storing motor vehicle” in accordance with Section16.

Section 19
Generally
Authorizes peace officer to cause removal of vehicle driven by unlicensed driver to place of safety. See section 16.

Section 20
Generally – Partnership with feds to verify drivers license info offered at hiring process, new employees
Requires the Commissioner of DDS to [participate in the federal E-Verify ‘RIDE’ program.

Section 21
Generally – No property tax deductions for illegal aliens 
Improves existing law to clarify that illegal aliens with deferred action on deportation status are not eligible for property tax exemptions.

Section 22
Generally
Provides for requirement that non-citizen applicants for property tax exemptions sign an affidavit swearing they do not have deferred action on deportation status. Provides for penalty for false swearing.

Section 23
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
dak

FACT: According to the Obama administration’s DHS, Georgia has a larger illegal alien population that Arizona.

It is important to know that Obama’s deferred action on deportation for illegal aliens does not change the fact that they are still illegal aliens. Even the AP and AJC admit that.

Quoting from the U.S. DHS USCIS website:

What Is DACA
On June 15, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines may request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal. They are also eligible for work authorization. Deferred action is a use of prosecutorial discretion to defer removal action against an individual for a certain period of time. Deferred action does not provide lawful status. ( red emphasis for ‘journalists’ and bureaucrats in quiet denial )

DDS has been assuring state legislators – all of whom owe it to their constituents to have a working knowledge of illegal immigration – that “Undocumented and illegal immigrants are not entitled to a Georgia driver’s license or ID card.”

Below is just one email from the DDS Legislative Liaison to a state senate assistant in response to an inquiry on this. I have more such emails.

__

From: Mitchell, Michael [mailto:mbmitchell@dds.ga.gov]

Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2015 11:07 AM

To: Cady, Jessica

Subject:

Hello Jessica,

Last week, Chairman Albers requested that I email him a short summary on proof of identity and lawful presence for obtaining or renewing a Georgia driver’s license. Could you please ensure that he gets this information:

All DDS customers are required to show documented proof of identity and lawful presence in the United States in order to obtain or, in certain cases, renew a Georgia driver’s license. For U.S. citizens, this is typically accomplished through a certified, state-issued birth certificate, which not only proves identity, but also U.S. citizenship. For non-U.S. citizens, proof of identity and proof of lawful presence can be accomplished through a valid, federally recognized immigration document, or combination of immigration documents.

Undocumented and illegal immigrants are not entitled to a Georgia driver’s license or ID card. (emphasis mine – dak)

Also, because a Georgia driver’s license and ID card are considered to be “public benefits” under Georgia law, there are specific state guidelines, in addition to REAL ID, that DDS must adhere to in the issuance and renewal of licenses and ID’s. See O.C.G.A. Code Sec. 50-36-1.

Moreover, DDS verifies the validity of all immigration documents through the federal S.A.V.E. database. A Georgia driver’s license and ID card expiration date is tied to the expiration date of the immigration documents and the card itself is marked “Limited Term”. Any person whose immigration documents cannot be verified through S.A.V.E. or are under a deportation order will not receive a Georgia driver’s license or ID card.

Hope this helps.

Please let me know if Chairman Albers has any additional questions.

Mike

Mike Mitchell, Legislative Liaison
Department of Driver Services
678-413-8413

Photo: D.A. King

Susan Sports is the Georgia Department of Driver Services Public Information Director

DDS contact
Susan Sports
Public information Director
(678) 413-8657 office
(404) 975-7007 cell

Susan Sports replied to a media question on DDS policy on issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens with deferred action on deportation and the announcement from DDS that some illegal aliens with work permits would no longer be issued a drivers license.

The reply assures the reporter that DDS policy is based on the “Federal Dream Act.”

FACT: There is no federal DREAM Act. It was only failed legislation. It is not law.

Repeat: While the federal DREAM Act was introduced in 2001 and several times after that, the federal DREAM Act never passed congress. It was never signed into law because it never passed congress. We are also proud to have taken part in the fight to stop passage of the DREAM Act.

Shorter: DDS has made official assurances that their policy is based on a failed piece of federal amnesty legislation.

Email exchange between Patrick Hickey of Insider Advantage Georgia and Susan Sports, Public Information Director, DDS:

From: Sports, Susan [mailto:SSports@dds.ga.gov] 
Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2015 10:36 AM
To: Patrick Hickey

Subject: RE: URGENT FROM DEPARTMENT OF DRIVER SERVICES

DDS has not changed the policy regarding driver’s license and/or identification card issuance to non-citizens.

Those non-citizens in Deferred Action Status are eligible for GA licenses and IDs per the Federal Dream Act (assuming that they meet all other GA licensing criteria).

However, there is a separate group of noncitizens that are not eligible for GA license or ID Card issuance. Non-citizen customers with a category C-18 on their Employment Authorization Document (EAD) (which is the category if an individual is under an order of deportation/order of supervision) are not eligible for GA licenses and/or identification card issuance.

Thanks!

Susan

Image: WikiCommons

Augusta Chronicle

Note: The link to the below 2012 AP report has been disabled. Good thing I saved the story here, ehh?

Some illegal immigrants can get Georgia driver’s licenses
By Kate Brumback
Associated Press
Thursday, Aug 23, 2012 3:13 PM

ATLANTA — Illegal immigrants who are granted permission to stay in the country under an Obama administration policy that was announced in June will be eligible for drivers’ licenses in Georgia, the state’s attorney general wrote in a letter to the governor.

“While I do not agree with the actions of the President in issuing the directive, it has been implemented by the Department of Homeland Security, USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services), and state law recognizes the approval of deferred action status as a basis for issuing a temporary driver’s license,” Attorney General Sam Olens, a Republican, wrote in a letter obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Olens said illegal immigrants with the special status would not, however, be eligible for a state identification card. He says such cards are considered public benefits which are not available to illegal immigrants.

Under the policy – which was announced in June and took effect last week – eligible immigrants must have arrived in the U.S. before their 16th birthday, are 30 or younger, have lived here at least five years, and are in school or graduated or served in the military.

They also must not have a criminal record or otherwise pose a safety threat. They can apply to stay in the country and be granted a work permit for two years, but they would not be granted citizenship.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed an executive order Aug. 15, the day the policy took effect, telling state agencies not to give driver’s licenses or other benefits to illegal immigrants who obtain work authorizations under the deferred status.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said this month that each state could determine whether to issue drivers’ licenses or extend benefits such as in-state tuition to immigrants who are granted deferred status.

A Georgia Department of Driver Services spokeswoman said last week that Georgia law considers those with deferred action status eligible for drivers’ licenses and that the agency would issue them unless it got other instructions. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal last week asked Olens for guidance on the matter.

Federal immigration authorities can also grant deferred action status to other illegal immigrants at their discretion.

Describing @marcorubio : pick fave @MarkSKrikorian term:

— D.A. King #LivesInGeorgiafornia (@DAKDIS) February 8, 2016

tweet

We are grateful to the AJC’s Maureen Downey for the space.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Get Schooled blog – Maureen Downey

Sunday, February 7, 2016

In a response to a column on the blog this week condemning Georgia’s higher education policy toward illegal immigrants, D.A. King of Marietta wrote this rebuttal essay. A vocal advocate for enforcement of U.S. immigration and employment laws, King is president of the Dustin Inman Society.

You can read the original column here.

By D.A. King

The now stereotypical and always offensive path taken by liberals advocating for special treatment for illegal aliens is to associate enforcement of American immigration laws with racial prejudice and to the civil rights struggles of American blacks in the 1960s. And to completely ignore the rights of real, legal immigrants.

The recent joint effort featured here from associate professors Angela Stuesse and Shannon Speed did not disappoint. Because they did not, we note that “illegal” is not a race.

The issue of illegal immigrants and college attendance divides states. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)

The writers cite recent protests by victims of borders against Board of Regents admittance policy. But they omitted mentioning arrests of several screaming protesters for shoving American police officers. They did however include references to a 1960 North Carolina lunch counter sit-in during which “four Black students… integrated a whites-only Woolworth’s counter.” The authors race-baiting hope is to compare the Board of Regents current policy on instate tuition and limiting illegal aliens access to taxpayer-funded post secondary schools as ”segregation.”

Nowhere do the educators of our college youth mention that inconvenient concept of an equal application of the law that is supposed to protect all Americans and is the very basis of the civil rights movement. There is a reason for that.

Longstanding federal law defining and regulating state and local public benefits (8USC1621 – 1996) makes it quite clear that illegal aliens are not eligible for post secondary education unless a state enacts a statute explicitly stating otherwise. The Georgia General Assembly has never passed such a law, but it has gone the opposite direction with legislation.

Mainstream Georgians would regard institutional, official violation of federal and state law as putting us on the “wrong side of history.”

The anthropology and gender studies professors’ anti-enforcement guest column probably went over far better in their respective faculty lounges that it does out here in the real world. A 2010 AJC-sponsored poll of Georgians reflected the unsurprising reality. Two-thirds of the very diverse respondents said we should prohibit illegal aliens from attending public universities at any tuition rate – even if they pay out-of state tuition.

We would be quite interested to see the AJC run another poll asking the same question as the 2010 version.

If not some new-found, pro-American respect for the law, we can only hope the professors’ liberal evolution leads to some measure of compassion for the legal immigrant families who stand in sad bewilderment as advocates for illegals push for “the undocumented” receiving the same benefits and rights earned by joining the American family lawfully. We can see that such a worldview is not in vogue on today’s college campuses, but we should all hope for change.

It is amusing to see the leftist advocates invoke the very dubious conclusions of the left-leaning Georgia Budget & Policy Institute’s latest “report” on immigration and the alleged monetary boost to the Georgia economy. That is if we would only ignore several federal and state laws and put illegal aliens in line with American citizens and legal immigrants in our university admittance offices. And also put them into our workforce to compete with American workers and their already stagnant wages.

After that, in the never-ending game of political incrementalism, the next oft-quoted report would no-doubt carefully explain the mega-benefits to the Georgia economy if only we had officially open borders and a constant, unregulated influx of immigrants to replace the workers already struggling to live the American Dream in their own country.

All concerned should pay attention to the legislative process under the Gold Dome on the pending Senate Bill 6. It addresses existing state law to clear up intentionally created confusion on just who is an illegal alien after President Obama’s dubious executive action on deferred action on deportation.

If passed, signed into law and then actually enforced by the Republican-run state government, SB 6 will end the question of whether the Regents can or should change tuition policy on illegal aliens – of any description.  HERE.

Laura Emiko Soltis. Image: Forbes

Emiko Soltis bio.

Transcription by Rev.com

Emiko Soltis: “Undocumented is racial code. None of these bans would’ve been passed if they said, “Let’s ban brown students.” “

WABE News – Closer Look. February 2, 2016  HERE. Hosts, Jim Burrus and Rose Scott

Speaker 1: Georgia’s University system got what they consider a win from the state Supreme Court, yesterday, when Justice’s decided the Board of Regents can’t be sued by a group of students. That’s because the Supreme Court said, “The Board of Regents is immune from lawsuits.”

Speaker 2: But, the students vow to continue their fight. They’re a group of students who have graduated from Georgia High Schools and had temporary protection from deportation, also known as [DACA 00:00:30] students.

Speaker 1: Now, some of them even say a Regent’s policy that bans them from the state’s top colleges, based on tuition, is racist. Martha Dalton has more.

Martha: This is an audition for the Freedom University Singers. Freedom U is an underground school in Atlanta for undocumented students who want to go to college.

Emiko Soltis: We get our inspiration from the Freedom Schools of The Black Freedom Movement and Freedom Summer, 1964.

Martha: Emiko Soltis runs this school in a secret location. She says, “Like the Freedom Schools of the 60s, Freedom U teaches students how to effectively organize and protest, with lessons in civil disobedience.”

Emiko: And, we provide tuition free, college level classes.

Martha: The school was founded in 2011, after the Board of Regents banned undocumented students from its top 5 universities, even if they graduated from a Georgia High School. Soltis says, “In doing so, the Regents reverted to old southern segregation laws.”

Emiko Soltis: When we look at the exact same Universities that are banning undocumented students, yes, it’s only 5. But, those 5 Universities also banned black students in 1960, and that is absolutely not a coincidence.

Martha: Civil Rights leaders have also chimed in when Universities restrict access for undocumented students. Georgia Congressman John Lewis addressed the issue when he spoke at Emory University’s 2014 graduation ceremony.

John: It doesn’t make sense that we live in a country where more than 12 million people are living in the shadow, living in fear. That is not right. That is not fair and that is not just. And, you must get in the way and find a way to make the way out of no way.

Martha: After his speech, Emory, which is private, changed its tuition policy for undocumented students, so more could attend. Georgia’s public universities aren’t the only ones in the south restricting admissions for undocumented students. South Carolina and Alabama don’t allow undocumented students to attend any state colleges. To Emiko Soltis, that, “[inaudible 00:02:27] of the old south, where discrimination was written into law.”

Emiko Soltis: “Undocumented is racial code. None of these bans would’ve been passed if they said, “Let’s ban brown students.” “

Martha: The University System of Georgia declined to be interviewed for this story, but issued a statement saying it’s following state law, to make sure only those lawfully present get in-state benefits. But, Freedom U student Melissa [Rivas 00:02:48] Triana says she is lawfully present.

Melissa: I was able to apply and get my work permit and then I got a license, so it’s like I have 2 forms of ID now.

Martha: She’s what’s known as a DACA student. She can’t be deported right now, under federal orders, and the interpretation of what it means to be lawfully present is at the heart of the lawsuit the students are waging against the state. Salvador Alvarado doesn’t see the tuition restrictions as racist or a form of segregation. He’s also a Freedom U student and says his main gripe is that the policy that keeps him from getting a college education at a public school in Georgia just makes no sense.

Salvador: You’re limiting he or she to a high school education, where you later on expect that person to get a job and contribute to society, but how is that person able to contribute when he has a low income job or he is limited to what he can do, based on his education?

Martha: Alvarado has a college scholarship, but he might go out of state because top schools like UGA, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State can’t consider him. Students like Alvarado could attend other Georgia public colleges, but they’d have to pay out of state tuition, which is often 3 to 4 times higher, and then there’s Freedom University.

Speaker 8: Yay.

Speaker 9: Good job, yeah.

Martha: Students don’t get college credit for the courses they take, but organizers say, “It opens doors for Georgia’s undocumented students to Universities and scholarships in other states.” Martha Dalton, WABE News.