UPDATE on the Georgia 7: Great news! After a night in prison, all seven protestors from the DREAM demonstration in Atlanta Tuesday have been released. They are asking for your continued support as they resume campaigning against the Georgia ban on higher education for undocumented students. You can sign their petition here.
Seven undocumented youth activists were arrested in Atlanta yesterday after they demonstrated in favor of the DREAM Act and their right to an education.
The protestors—all members of The Dream is Coming project—hailed from Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Illinois, on the premise that “a threat to immigrant youth anywhere is a threat to immigrant youth everywhere.” During the rally, they publicly identified themselves as undocumented immigrants, delivered a letter to the president of Georgia State University, and sat down to occupy a busy intersection—unfurling a large red and white banner declaring “we will no longer remain in the shadows”—for more than an hour before the police arrived. Hundreds of supporters lined the sidewalks and cheered as police detained the students, some of whom chanted through tears and smiles as they were led away.
Protestor Georgina Perez spoke out in a press release:
I am tired of living in fear; I am tired of being constantly told I cannot do something just because of my status. I was brought to this country over 18 years ago, when I was just 3. I am a proud Georgian, I want to contribute to this nation and I will not let anyone tell me how to live my life. I am no longer afraid.
