Undocumented NC students arrested during sit in

Two illegal immigrants from North Carolina have been arrested and could face deportation after staging a sit in this afternoon in downtown Atlanta to protest laws that bar illegal immigrants from attending public colleges.

Supporters say Jose Rico, a student at Wake Tech, and Viridiana Martinez of Sanford, were arrested with five other undocumented students who were protesting recently proposed legislation in Georgia and North Carolina.

The students were taken to an area jail. The supporters said the Atlanta jails participate in Secure Communities, which identifies and places illegal immigrants into deportation proceedings.

A vigil will be held tonight outside Atlanta Detention Center for the seven undocumented youth who were just arrested.

“I’m doing this because our communities are living in fear,” Rico said before the rally.

Organizers say more than 200 supporters from Georgia, the Carolinas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, among other states, are in Atlanta supporting the rally.

Rico is a member of the NC Dream Team, a state-wide group that advocates for immigrant rights. He is a student at Wake Tech in Raleigh and plans to transfer to NC State. After excelling in high school being accepted to numerous colleges, Rico could not afford to go to school because of the out-of-state tuition that undocumented students are required to pay. Rico wants to become an engineer.

The students are part of The Dream is Coming project, which was created to advocate for the Dream Act, legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for certain young people who were brought here at a young age. It has failed to pass congress several times, most recently in December.

“Fifty-one thousand undocumented youth had their dreams torn apart when our senators voted against the Dream Act," Rico said. "They are trying to criminalize our existence.”

The young students have started using civil disobedience as a tool in their fight, including a high-profile sit-in at the Tucson offices of U.S. Sen. John McCain, when some of them were arrested. They have likened their struggle to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and say they are bolstered by support from some of the leaders of that movement.

Legislators in North Carolina are considering banning illegal immigrants from attending public colleges and universities. Two bills in the NC General Assembly, HB 11 and HB 343, would ban illegal immigrants from attending the state's public colleges.

Viridiana Martinez, who came to the United States when she was 7-years-old and lives in Sanford, will also participate in the sit in. Last year, she was one of three undocumented young women who participated in a thirteen-day hunger strike with the hope of encouraging Senator Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, to support the Dream Act. The Dream Act succumbed to a Senate filibuster after several key Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the bill.

“Rallying and protesting are no longer enough,” Martinez said. “Remaining in the shadows is no longer acceptable.”

Associated Press Contributed.

NC students risk arrest and deportation

Two illegal immigrants from North Carolina will risk arrest and deportation when they stage a sit in this afternoon in downtown Atlanta to protests laws that bar illegal immigrants from attending public colleges.

“I’m doing this because our communities are living in fear,” said Jose Rico, one of two participants from North Carolina.

They will be joined by six other undocumented students from across the country.

Organizers say more than 200 supporters from Georgia, the Carolinas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, among other states, are in Atlanta supporting the rally.

Rico is a member of the NC Dream Team, a state-wide group that advocates for immigrant rights. He is a student at Wake Tech in Raleigh and plans to transfer to NC State. After excelling in high school being accepted to numerous colleges, Rico could not afford to go to school because of the out-of-state tuition that undocumented students are required to pay. Rico wants to become an engineer.

The students are part of The Dream is Coming project, which was created to advocate for the Dream Act, legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for certain young people who were brought here at a young age. It has failed to pass congress several times, most recently in December.

“Fifty-one thousand undocumented youth had their dreams torn apart when our senators voted against the Dream Act," Rico said. "They are trying to criminalize our existence.”

The young students have started using civil disobedience as a tool in their fight, including a high-profile sit-in at the Tucson offices of U.S. Sen. John McCain, when some of them were arrested. They have likened their struggle to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and say they are bolstered by support from some of the leaders of that movement.

Legislators in North Carolina are considering banning illegal immigrants from attending public colleges and universities. Two bills in the NC General Assembly, HB 11 and HB 343, would ban illegal immigrants from attending the state's public colleges.

Viridiana Martinez, who came to the United States when she was 7-years-old and lives in Sanford, will also participate in the sit in.Last year, she was one of three undocumented young women who participated in a thirteen-day hunger strike with the hope of encouraging Senator Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, to support the Dream Act. The Dream Act succumbed to a Senate filibuster after several key Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the bill.

“Rallying and protesting are no longer enough,” Martinez said. “Remaining in the shadows is no longer acceptable.”

Associated Press Contributed.

Selene didn't realize her immigration status until middle school

Some 75 people, mostly students, marched through Uptown Thursday protesting newly introduced state legislation that targets immigrants living in the country illegally.

One student, Selene, a 17-year-old junior in Charlotte, told the crowd about learning her immigration status while in middle school.

"When I was six years old my parents decided to come visit my moms’ family in the United States. I was young and excited about the trip. I had never really met all of my family members.

The time spent here was great and when the vacation was coming to an end my parents decided to stay longer because they felt that learning a new language would be a great opportunity for my sisters and me. At that time the immigration laws were not as tough and stringent as they are now. I grew up thinking that the United States was my home, and that everyone around me was my friend.

When I entered middle school I began to realize the situation that I was in. I started hearing all of the negative and racist comments that people were saying about my race. I learned what the true meaning of being undocumented in this country was and how I would be impacted by that.

I’ve always been a good student in school, my parents place a very high value in education, and therefore I try my hardest everyday, so that they can be proud of me. I’m currently in the top 12 percent of my class and my biggest dream is to attend UNC Chapel Hill in order to later become a lawyer and hopefully one day a Supreme Court Justice. It saddens me to see that the country I call home is fighting so hard to get rid of me.

All I want is to give back the community that has sheltered me since such a young age. I want to be able to go to college, so that later I can help those in need, especially my family members. I don’t see why people want to deny me the right to an education. The economy is in a very rough spot right now. Why not let me help restore the community?

All that the Latino youth are asking for is to be partners in order to help rebuild our collective community. I’m ready to start standing up for what I know I deserve. I work hard daily and I think that anyone who wants a chance to improve their future should be given that chance. We will not give up the fight and I will go to college and be the best person I can be!"

'My name is Elver and I'm undocumented and unafraid.'

Students told their personal stories of finding out they were living in the country illegally during an Uptown rally Thursday to protest recent legislation directed at immigrants.

A couple students shared their speeches with me. Here is one from Elver, 19, who graduated from a Charlotte-Mecklenburg High School in 2009.

'My name is Elver and I'm undocumented and unafraid.'

Yes I am undocumented and I’m not afraid of what people might think because it is not a crime, and I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just working like most people in this country. I didn’t choose to come to the United States, my parents made that decision for me because it was safer for me to live here in the states than in my own country with violence and the killing every day. That’s not what parents want for their kids, and that’s not what my parents wanted for my future.

I came here when I was 14 years old, and when I arrived I didn’t speak any English, I had to adapt to a whole new society, and teachers and staff told me that I couldn’t go to college or do well in school because I was “illegal”, and I couldn’t speak the language. To their surprise I graduated in the top 11% of my class in June of 2009, and now ever since I graduated I have been fighting hard for the right of education, the right to higher education for the undocumented students like me and 65,000 other students that graduate each year from high school in the nation that cant go to college because they’re undocumented. And bills like the HB 343- it is basically racial profiling, and is somebody’s way to kick us out this country which to many is our only and 1st home country.

But is up to us the people, the youth and it is in our hands- the power of change, the power of the people, the power to make the voices of those whose voices are not being heard. In your hands is the future of us the undocumented youth. The youth are the future of the United States but we are also the present and we have to show that we can and we have to power to make change. Therefore I want to ask you to come out the shadows, undocumented youth, come out and let’s show the community of Charlotte that we exist and that we are youth with dreams just like any other U.S citizen. Let’s show the community of Charlotte that the undocumented people and our allies are stronger than before, and we are one voice, the voice of change and the voice of the future. "

Immigrant students march in Uptown against new bill

More than 50 students are expected to converge on Marshall Park tomorrow to protest recent state legislation they feel targets Latino communities, encourages racial profiling and will ban undocumented immigrant students from attending public colleges.

Advocates are particularly concerned about House Bill 343: Support Law Enforcement/Safe Neighborhoods introduced this month by Rep. George Cleveland, R-Onslow.

Some advocates say HB 343 is the most egregious bill against immigrants ever introduced in the NC General Assembly.

The bill, among other things, instructs officers to determine the immigration status of those arrested or detained, makes it illegal to transport undocumented people in a vehicle, and bans illegal immigrants from attending public colleges.

Organized by United 4 The Dream, a youth-led advocacy group within the Latin American Coalition, marchers will meet in Marshall Park at 5:30 and then march through Uptown Charlotte.

Elver Barrios, co-founder of United 4 the Dream, says that HB 343 will force out many bright students who just want to work and be given the chance to contribute.

“We are tired of always being pushed back and targeted…,” said Barrios. “We did not choose to come to the United States but our parents made a choice to bring us along to give us opportunities that we would’ve never had in our home countries. Now that we are here and we have made this our second home, we will not give up the fight.”

For more information, contact 704-941-2542.

Charlotteans demonstrate for Libya

Dozens of Charlotte area residents with ties to Libya, Bahraini, and Yemen will hold a join together tonight (Feb. 22) as a sign of solidarity with the people protesting in their homeland.

Inspired by the successful ousting of the authoritarian presidents in Tunisia and Egypt, masses of Libyan people have been engaged in uprisings over the last several weeks. Human rights groups say that more than 200 people have died.

Charlotte organizers plan to meet Uptown at Marshall Park on East 3rd street at 7 p.m. For more information, visit the groups Facebook page or call (919) 413-1816.

Charlotte professor heads to Cairo

An Egyptian-born Queens professor is headed to Egypt today. Mohammed el-Nawawy is expected to land in Cairo tonight.

El-Nawawy, a professor of communication, is working on a new book about political blogging in Egypt. He plans to travel to the center of the protests Tahrir Square to talk to some of the bloggers who helped started this protest.

“I’m going to speak to some of the bloggers that I talked to before and get some feedback on how social media has affected their work on the ground,” he said.

“It’s history in the making,” he said. “To capture a slice of it will be interesting.”

El Nawawy plans to return to Charlotte on Tuesday, Feb. 15. On Wednesday, he plans to meet with the community at Myers Park Baptist Church to discuss the trip and also sign copies of another book, "Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourse in Cyberspace," which el-Nawawy co-authored with Sahar Khamis.