"I'm just hoping for the best and I really believe that something positive should come out of this, probably an immigration reform or at least the Dream Act, which would help this sentence," Colotl said.
Before a lively crowd of supporters at Buford Highway's Plaza Fiesta, Colotl, 21, along with her attorneys and members of immigrant activist groups, addressed throngs of media. Standing behind a lecturn with a sign on it reading, "I march for Jessica," Colotl answered questions about the events that led up to her second arrest and how it feels to be the poster child for what some say is America's flawed immigration system.
Colotl turned herself in to the Cobb County Sheriff's Office at 10 a.m. Friday after an arrest warrant was issued two days prior, alleging she made false statements about her place of residence when she was booked into Cobb Jail on March 30. The felony charge could result in more than a year in jail and a fine of greater than $1,000. Colotl posted a $2,500 bond and was released at 11:40 a.m. Friday, just hours before her 2 p.m. press conference.
Since Colotl has become the face for the illegal immigration debate, she said she does not at all agree with the laws and hopes that some changes will be made on the national level to help grant illegal immigrants amnesty and help them gain documentation.
"I think it's really sad," Colotl said of her situation. "Like I said before, I never thought that I was going to be caught up in this messed up system, so I'm just hoping for the best and waiting for something positive such as the Dream Act to be passed sometime in the future ... I think that people should be more educated about the subject because the problem is that there are so many generalizations and stereotypes about immigrants."
Colotl was first arrested March 30 for driving without a valid driver's license, after being stopped a day prior on KSU's campus for a traffic violation. She was taken to Cobb County Jail, where she was released to Atlanta Immigration and Customs Enforcement and then taken to the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden, Ala., on April 1. She was released May 5 from the detention center and granted a deferred action for one year to return to her studies at the university.
Clearing up rumors about her background, Colotl said she came to the U.S. from Mexico with her parents when she was 11 years old, but doesn't remember much about the move. If deported, the KSU student said she would have to start all over again, as she doesn't have ties to that country.
Christopher Taylor, Cololt's attorney for the criminal proceedings, said he believes his client is an American at heart and that our system has failed her. He called the charges against her politically motivated and denied any wrongdoing on Colotl's part.
"It's unfortunate that the charges that have come about in the last couple days came about in the way they did," Taylor said. "They were politically motivated, and to use a 21-year-old student as a pawn in a political game is sad, and it's unfortunate that she has been wrapped up in this."
Although Taylor said he could not get into many details about the criminal charges against her, he did claim that Colotl had provided the correct addresses at the appropriate times. Taylor said she gave the sheriff's office a previous Duluth address, which the Journal visited, because it was the address to which her car was registered and insurance was issued. Taylor said she moved from that residence in September 2009. She lists a Lilburn address on her Friday book-in sheet. When she was turned over to Atlanta ICE, she gave them her current address, Taylor said, claiming that the sheriff's office could have obtained those records if it had followed-up with ICE.
Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren told the Journal Friday, "I have all the confidence in the world that my investigators did a thorough investigation. And they presented a case to the magistrate, and the magistrate judge felt there was probable cause to issue the warrant. So it's time for us to let the courts and the judge decide ... We started getting calls and I felt obligated to look into it. I did not have any encouragement to do anything."
The sheriff had previously said, "It is sad that Ms. Colotl's parents chose to enter the United States illegally and ultimately put her in this position. However, Ms. Colotl knew that she was in the United States without authority to be here and voluntarily chose to operate a vehicle without a driver's license; which is a violation of Georgia law. She has further complicated her situation with her blatant disregard for Georgia Law by giving false information."
While Taylor said he could not answer questions about who owned and paid for the gold Honda Accord Colotl was driving at the time of the incident, he did say she was insured. Contrary to previous reports, Colotl did not provide the KSU police with a Mexican driver's license, but instead with a Mexican Passport that expired in 2006.
Colotl's immigration attorney, Charles Kuck, said the team is working pro-bono, but not representing her parents, who are also illegal immigrants. Kuck said, under the ICE agreement, Colotl is a legal U.S. resident for the next year, eligible for in-state tuition and employment.
Kuck also said he was in touch with authorities at Atlanta ICE and on the national level, and that he did not expect Colotl to be rearrested by federal officials in light of the recent charges against her.
Even with the new charges, ICE spokeman Ivan Ortiz-Delgado said ICE will not seek further action against Colotl, and will reassess her deferment status in a year.
ICE released the following statement on Friday: "ICE uses discretion on a case by case basis, as appropriate and has the authority to grant a deferral of removal action based on the merits of an individual's case and a review of specific facts. ICE has exercised that authority in Ms. Colotl's case for one year and did not issue a detainer for today's arrest. ICE will review her case again on its merits at the conclusion of the one-year period. ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that focuses first on criminal aliens who pose a threat to our communities."
Ortiz-Delgado said Colotl would have to apply for a work permit with established U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to be granted authorization to work in the United States. As for her status as an in-state student at KSU, Ortiz-Delgado said that would be up to the university or the state.
KSU President Dr. Dan Papp earlier said, "Now that Ms. Colotl has been identified as undocumented, she will pay out-of-state tuition, as do all other known undocumented students."
KSU officials said previously that Colotl pays in-state tuition and they were unaware she was an illegal immigrant until a few weeks ago. According to their records, Colotl was admitted to KSU in the fall of 2006, and came to them as a Georgia high school graduate, since she graduated from Lakeside High School in DeKalb County. Colotl said she does not receive the HOPE scholarship and pays for her education through family support. Despite previous reports from her friends, Colotl said she does not have a job.
Friends previously reported that Colotl's family lives in Gwinnett County, and that her father may have already moved back to Mexico, however Colotl did not speak about her family during Friday's press conference.
The student, who will turn 22 next week, said Friday she has yet to return to KSU and is still evaluating whether she will finish her college career there. She did however say that she intends to finish her college career and hopes to one day study to be a lawyer. On track to graduate in December, Colotl is a senior political science major at KSU.
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1. The student IS here illegally. No matter which "side" you are on, this fact remains, period.
2. The student is question was stopped for a traffic violation, was driving without a license, and gave false information to a law enforcement officer. It doesn't matter where you are born, whether or not you are a citizen, these are clear violations of law. This is fact. Do any of you have any doubt that you would be arrested if you made the above violations?
3. The Sheriff is a law enforcement officer, e.g., his job is to enforce the law. Multiple laws were broken, and the Sheriff is oath-bound to enforce the law, in this case by arresting the suspect. This is fact. If the man was NOT doing his job, then perhaps criticism would be justified.
4. You break laws, depending on the severity, you pay your fine, and/or go to court, and/or spend time in jail until bail is made, or your guilt/innocence is determined. This is fact. The national origin of a suspect has no bearing on the above. It may affect other legal issues, but it has no bearing on the above. The same holds true in most other nations.
The point? There is no reason to complain about anything, one way or the other, until the above issues are solved.
So, Jessica, apologize for breaking the laws of the state you "live" in and work for a meaningful change that will prevent this from happening to anyone else. Then you may actually garner respect instead of pity and anger.
She is illegal, she has no business being here, or don't you understand that? What makes you think any more than a third of the state supports her. The only people who "support" her are leftists like you and people who think that government is the end-all-be-all, and will do anything to make sure the world is like that, even going as far as to turn a person into a political pawn, example here, Jessica Colotl.
more kids from different fathers and by the way are a little darker than latinos and speak better english!
Please give the full story on her family background.
She knew she was not here legally and milked us for all she could.
She is right about one thing, though. Our immigration system is messed up. It is messed up because our government doesn't enforce the laws currently in place. Ms. Colotl, and her family, should be in Mexico right now, trying to figure out how to sneak back into the US. And our government, rather than spending $1 trillion on a healthcare program unwanted by the vast majority of Americans, should be designating appropriate sums to the protection of our borders, removal of all illegals, and the prosecution of all who hire them when they are here, a program that most Americans do want. Instead, these mental midgets in Congress are trying to find an easy way to grant amnesty to all illegals, which, of course, would qualify them for education and healthcare, and increase the above figure by another $300 billion. We are going to be "politically corrected" into a third world country with a third world debt to match, and the manner in which Ms. Colotl's case is being handled is a perfect example of why.
So, in other words, KSU is harboring known illegals? Where's the accountability here?
I went to Georgia State, took some classes at KSU, had a higher GPA, and paid out of state tuition when I moved to GA, legally. Had no aid and worked around my school schedule, legally, and paid taxes on all income.
Insofar as our legal, lazy students - go to Walton High School. Few illegals, many successful students. If KSU needs an illegal to attract a good student, then we should just shut it down and forget out the sucking sound of our tax dollars.
We are about as sick of hearing about legal speeding citizens being compared to lawless illegals, as much as the xenophobic, unChristian and hateful comparisons. We don't care what you think - we are paying for this mess and are sick of it.
Let's get busy Georgia. We have more illegals than Arizona. The problem here is that the police let far too many of them walk away. The only difference is in Arizona the police now must check status. It would have helped us if the Marietta city cop did half as much when the illegal hit us, ran away, and was not charged with leaving the scene. Of course, the copy had a Hispanic name.