Fighting the Georgia Ban On Immigrant Youth

This is a message from one of my friends, Maria Marroquin, who protested against the ban on undocumented students in higher education institutions across Georgia. She’s currently in detention, along with 6 other students, and may face removal from the country.

Three years ago when I helped start DreamActivist.org, I never thought I would be sitting where I am today. To be honest, one of the reasons I helped start this group was because I was too scared to publicly share my status, to share my face and my name. I thought that if I remained online I could always hide that.

Donate to my bail fund

Over the course of the last few years though, I have learned that that might not be the best thing.  I have learned that if we, as undocumented youth, truly want to get ahead then we need to be ourselves. We need to come out and we need to show this nation that we are undocumented and unafraid and will accept nothing less than equality.

Today, I will be participating in a sit-in action. I will most likely be arrested and placed into deportation proceedings. I am willing to risk all of this because my current situation is unbearable. It took me nearly five years to graduate with a two-year degree paying out-of-state tuition. I don’t complain about it; however, I can’t stand by knowing that my little brother and sister will have to follow the same path.

This is not an easy decision to make, especially knowing I might have to raise up to $7,500 to be released from detention.

Our politicians may have let us down, and at this point, that is something we expect from them.  I cannot, however, silently sit by and let my family down.  I have to fight for them and for each of you.  Today when I get arrested, I will do so with a smile on my face knowing that I am truly Undocumented, Unafraid and Unapologetic.  Will you join me?

If you are unable to take the risk yourself then maybe you can donate just $25 towards my bail fund.

See you on the other side,

Maria Marroquin
Co-founder of DreamActivist.org

Maria is the quintessential dreamer. And I’m proud of her for standing up against injustice. If you can spare some cash, the students need $1800 each to make bail. Donate here.

Related articles

• Undocumented Youth in Georgia Arrested for Wanting an Education (news.change.org)
• 8 illegal immigrants detained at Georgia protest (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• 7 arrested after blocking traffic to raise immigration awareness (cnn.com)