Azadeh Shahshahani

Georgia just lost another young talent to another state.

Needa Virani arrived in the U.S. at age seven. A year later she moved to Georgia . She attended Brookwood High, where she was a distinguished member of the Math Honors Society and regional science fair participant.

After graduating in 2010 with a 3.97 GPA, Needa attended Georgia Tech and earned a bachelor's of science degree in biomedical engineering. Needa graduated with high honors, maintained a 3.56 GPA and was a research assistant in an engineering lab. She made plans to pursue a doctoral degree at Georgia Tech under the supervision of a professor who offered her a position in her chosen program.

Little did she know she would be prevented from pursuing her dreams. Earlier this year, the Georgia Tech admissions office informed her that, because of Board of Regents Policy 4.1.6 - which bans undocumented students from attending selective schools - she couldn't enroll, despite the fact Needa had been granted "deferred action" by the federal government.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has confirmed that individuals who are granted deferred action, including grantees of the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), are authorized to be present in the United States. Despite this, the Board of Regents refuses to allow DACA grantees admission to selective schools and requires them to pay out-of-state tuition to attend other colleges and universities.

Needa will now have to leave the state she considers home. The Board of Regents policy drove her to search for educational opportunities elsewhere. She just accepted an offer at the University of Oklahoma.

Since the implementation of the Board of Regents' ban, several gifted students have left for other states. This policy has harmed Georgia by depriving its higher learning institutions of the vibrancy and contributions of some of its most promising youth.

Georgia stands alone in not allowing young immigrants granted deferred action under DACA admission to selective universities. An increasing number of states are now allowing DACA grantees in-state tuition.

Last week at a rally in front of the State Capitol, Raymond Partolan, president of the Student Government Association at Mercer University who came to the U.S. when he was one, described his state of despair in high school:

"I was at the bottom of a very deep and dark well...I, the salutatorian of our high school, could quite possibly not be able to go to college...I felt I had so much potential but the prospect of college was bleak. That fall I tried to kill myself."

Raymond survived. Now he is one of the leaders in the student movement for equal access to higher education.

Raymond, Needa and students like them are children of Georgia. They have so much to contribute to our communities. Rather than erect barriers, the state should support these exemplary young people and open the way for them to fulfill their potential.

Read the full article and opposing views here

This piece also appeared in Mundo Hispanico

Following the Federal District Court's order today in Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, et al. v. Deal, et al., a coalition of civil rights groups announced the next steps in their effort to dismantle the state's anti-immigrant law, HB 87. Significant parts of the law have been blocked by the courtsbut one provision remains that allows police officers to ask the federal government to verify the immigration status of individuals who are lawfully detained on state-law grounds. It does not allow for stops, arrests or even extending detention just for immigration verification. Today's order holds that challenges to that provision's implementation must be brought in other suits, rather than the original case that the coalition filed before HB 87's effective date in 2011.

This particular lawsuit has been dismissed, but our commitment to justice in Georgia is as strong as ever," said Omar Jadwat, supervising attorney, ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. "In this case, we permanently struck down HB 87's central provision that would have made it a crime just to give an immigrant friend a ride to church or to work, and we put narrow limits on the remaining verification provision. Now we're going to make sure what's left of this mean-spirited law does not harm the people of Georgia," said Jadwat. "By filing 28 open records requests in jurisdictions throughout the state we mean to send a message to law enforcement agencies that we will closely monitor their implementation of the remains of HB 87, and we stand ready to bring additional targeted lawsuits as necessary. Racial profiling and discrimination based on a person's looks or the language that they speak will not go unnoticed or unopposed in Georgia," said Jadwat.

Georgia's anti-immigrant law, HB 87, was inspired by Arizona's SB 1070. In June of 2011 a federal judge blocked much of the law; however, last March a federal appeals court let the immigration-verification provision go into effect, while making clear that strict limits applied to its implementation.

"There have been indications of rampant racial profiling in metro-Atlanta counties which participate in federal enforcement programs in particular as we documented in our reports on Cobb and Gwinnett," said Azadeh Shahshahani of the ACLU of Georgia. "We were concerned that the implementation of HB 87 would turn the entire state into racial profiling territory which is what prompted us to file the public records requests."

"The Supreme Court has made clear that if a law like this results in police detaining people to investigate their immigration status it would raise serious constitutional problems," said Linton Joaquin of the National Immigration Law Center. "We will continue to monitor to ensure that police implement this law in a constitutional manner."

"Today's decision ends a chapter in the fight against Georgia's anti-immigrant laws," said Naomi Tsu, senior staff attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center. "Through this case, the brave community members who challenged HB 87 succeeded in ensuring that Georgians will not be criminalized for neighborly acts of kindness. Going forward, we will be watching law enforcement and will take action if we see immigration enforcement that violates civil rights."

The records requests announced today target municipal and county law enforcement agencies in areas around Atlanta and Macon as well as Savannah, along Georgia's eastern coast.

The civil rights coalition that filed the original lawsuit includes the ACLU, NILC, the ACLU of Georgia, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Asian Law Caucus, Federal & Hassan, LLP, Kuck Immigration Partners, LLC, and G. Brian Spears.

For more information about Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, et al. v. Deal, et al. visit

http://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/georgia-latino-alliance-human-rights-et-al-v-deal

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