College Blocks Illegal Student’s Deportation

In a brazen effort to help an illegal immigrant, a public university in Georgia is spending taxpayer resources to block the deportation of a student so that she can complete her degree next year.

The Mexican illegal alien (Jessica Colotl) graduated from a Georgia public high school and has attended Kennesaw State University since 2006. The suburban Atlanta college is Georgia’s third-largest with an enrollment of about 21,000 and Colotl pays heavily discounted in-state tuition that should be reserved for legal residents.

A few weeks ago police pulled Colotl over for a traffic violation and she got arrested for driving without a license. Colotl had no valid identification (her Mexican passport had even expired) and authorities discovered that she had been living illegally in the United States for more than a decade. As per an enforcement effort between local and federal authorities, Colotl was booked and flagged for deportation.

University officials immediately became involved with the legal procedures and arranged for a deferment of the charges so that Colotl could remain in the country long enough to complete her degree. Kennesaw State University President Dan Papp has actively engaged in efforts to help the illegal immigrant student and university lawyers have obtained assistance from the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta.

Last week the university managed to get Colotl released from an immigration detention center in Gadsden, Alabama so that she could enroll in summer and fall classes. The university’s president called it “great news” and said the community is “especially thrilled” that Colotl will be allowed to continue her studies. He also thanked everyone who was involved in the effort to help the illegal alien remain in the country.

This case has ignited fury among Peach State residents, lawmakers and media outlets that believe public resources should never be spent on helping an illegal immigrant avoid deportation. One incensed newspaper columnist writes that the school’s preferential treatment of an illegal immigrant is disgusting and that Latino activist groups are behind it.