LIFT THE BAN - Let Georgians by Heart attend top Universities in GA.

LIFT THE BAN - Let Georgians by Heart attend top Universities in GA.

Started
April 11, 2014
Petition to
Board of Regents Chancellor Hank Huckaby and 1 other
Petition Closed
This petition had 239 supporters

Why this petition matters

Started by Georgia Dreamers

Under the guise of “[strengthening] the ability of University System of Georgia institutions to properly classify students for tuition purposes,”the Board of Regents passed policy 4.1.6, which bans undocumented students from Georgia’s most competitive universities.

The ban, implemented in October 2011, directly affected Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, The University of Georgia, Georgia College and State University, and the Medical College of Georgia.

The Board of Regents’ ban discriminates between equally qualified college applicants based on immigration status.This ban targets—those students who would apply to the state’s most competitive universities—likely have overcome extreme social and cultural challenges in order to excel academically,and have demonstrated exemplary potential for excelling in the schools that are currently denying them admission.

The Board of Regents has takes Georgia universities 50 years back in history, to when African American Students could not apply to top universities such as the University of Georgia and instead were turned away to other states to search for higher education.

At the time the ban was passed, only twenty-nine students at the five affected campuses were undocumented of the approximately 96,650 students attending Georgia’s colleges included in the ban. The number of slots that the Board of Regents’ ban opened up, twenty-nine, is insignificant. Moreover, all the undocumented students were paying non-resident tuition, which covers more than the annual cost of university education.As a result; the twenty-nine students imposed no cost burden on Georgia taxpayers and in the entire contrary, these students paying International rates helps lower down the cost of tuition for students paying In State Tuition.  

Based on the statistics, and the Board of Regents’ own admission, differentiating between citizen and undocumented students does NOT come close to open up a significant number of university spots for students with authorized status.

We can therefore declare policy 4.1.6. as a hateful law with the sole purpose of formally appeasing anti-immigrant sentiments. Because the Board’s ban tenuously connects to the State’s goals, and fails to remedy either the express or implied rationale for the policy, it should be deemed incompatible with the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and therefore overturned.

 

The Board of Regents’ ban is a flagrant violation of the longstanding human rights principles expressed in the American Declaration and the UDHR. In violation of customary international human rights norms, the Board of Regents’ ban shifts the basis for access to higher education away from individual capability to immigration status. In limiting undocumented immigrants’ access to higher education, the ban also violates Articles 26(2) and 25(1) of the UDHR and Article 12 of the American Declaration. This ban is embarrassing on the national and international stage.

Collection of International entities that through conventions, treaties and declarations essentially denounce policy 4.1.6., and the shameful actions taken by the Georgia Board of Regents:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)

The International Labor Organization (ILO).

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)  

The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) US is a founding member.

 

Important Highlights:

 

1.- The Board of Regents requested 10,000,000 US Dollars in 2014, to grant In State Tuition to students coming from out of state and even International Students as an incentive to come and attend college in Georgia. The BOR argued that it was necessary to “enhance our college diversity”. This is a shameful reality that cannot be put in words. Hopeful Students who have grown up pledging allegiance to the United State flag and call Georgia “our only home” still wait for an opportunity to contribute to their State and Nation.

 

2.- Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) did not have an impact on the Board of Regents’ policy because the board released a memo stating that deferred action does not mean that an individual is lawfully present, however: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a memo on in which they specify that DACA grants legal presence for a two years window. Georgia DACA Students have taken the Board of Regents to court over this discrepancy and ask the BOR to abide by their own policy which in short says: “Any individual with legal presence qualifies for In State Tuition.

 

3.- The Georgia Board of Regents’ ban has no place in the U.S. educational system. With the exception of South Carolina and Alabama, no other state in the country has implemented a policy to ban students from public higher education. Over twenty states have moved passed an era in which racism and discrimination ruled and have entered a prosperous future by allowing Undocumented Americans attend college and pay In State Tuition.

 

By foreclosing the opportunity to attend these prestigious universities, the Board of Regents ban disincentives hard work and academic achievement. The ban tells undocumented students that, no matter how much they strive for improvement, they are incapable of ascending the socio-economic ladder and creating a more prosperous future for themselves and their families, this essentially creates second class citizens.

 

We ask for your signature as a sign of discontent with the Ban (Policy 4.1.6) and in support for hopeful contributors to our nation and Georgians by Heart.  Sign and share this petition and stand on the right side of history.

 

“Triumph over injustice begins with you” ~ National Dreamers Alliance

 

Freedom University provides college level education to undocumented students immidiately affected by policy 4.1.6. Visit Freedom Universitie's website and support these students. http://www.freedomuniversitygeorgia.com

 

 

 

Petition Closed

This petition had 239 supporters

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Decision Makers

  • Hank HuckabyBoard of Regents Chancellor
  • Sam OlensGeorgia's Attorney General