Nine student protestors, including one Kennesaw State senior, were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing Friday, Jan. 9 on the University of Georgia campus during an immigration protest.
Kevin Amaya, a senior international affairs major, was taken into custody and booked into Clarke County jail after a protest on student immigration rights turned into a classroom sit-in. KSU seniors Carlynn Sharpe and Hope Bettler were also among student protesters but were not arrested.
“I was invited by Freedom University, an institution that holds classes for undocumented students banned from attending top universities,” Amaya said.
FU provides “rigorous college-level classes, scholarship assistance, and leadership development for undocumented students in Georgia,” according to FU Georgia’s website.
The Georgia Board of Regents enacted policy 4.1.6 in 2011, which essentially bans undocumented students from attending the top five university systems in Georgia including UGA, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Georgia Regents and Georgia College and State universities, according to Laura “Emiko” Soltis, the Executive Director of Freedom University.
Subsequently, through Policy 4.3.4, other state colleges that allow undocumented students to attend prohibit them from qualifying for in-state tuition.
Upon UGA’s 54th anniversary of racial desegregation, both documented and undocumented students participated in a lecture taught by renowned social justice professors and participants of the Civil Rights Movement.
“We arrived at the Moore College at UGA’s campus around 2 p.m., and had class until 6 p.m. It was around 7:30 p.m. when we published our demands for the Board of Regents,” Amaya said.
According to Freedom University Georgia, the students reportedly demanded two things. First, that UGA President Jere Morehead release a statement announcing his opposition to the discriminatory practices enacted by the University of Georgia in compliance with Policy 4.1.6 and Policy 4.3.4. Secondly, that the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia rescind both policies.
“Shortly after that the campus police physically ended the protest and told people to leave,” Amaya said. “Nine of refused to leave, and those nine of us that stayed were arrested for criminal trespassing.”
“At approximately 8 pm, campus police entered the classroom and issued an order of dispersal. Nine students – four undocumented students and five documented allies – stayed in their seats,” according to Freedom University Georgia.
Undocumented students wore monarch butterfly wings to symbolize their activism. “The monarch butterflies represent the natural process of migrating south,” Amaya said.
Amaya’s next step in his activism is to bring the mov
ement here to KSU’s campus. “Students should be allowed to pay in-state tuition if they are academically qualified,” Amaya said. “It’s discrimination.”
