ATLANTA (February 28, 2012) – Sen. Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta) joined educators, students and other state legislators at an immigration rally on the steps of the Capitol today to protest Senate Bill 458 and House Bill 59. These bills would ban undocumented students, with no regard to academic credentials, from attending all 35 institutions in the University System of Georgia and 26 institutes in the Technical College System of Georgia. It also makes amendments to last year’s already detrimental HB 87. The amendments would ease licensing for business owners in Georgia who’ve already proven their legal status by not requiring proof upon reapplication. This also applies to other public benefits currently requiring verification of legal status in Georgia.
The bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last Wednesday despite strong public opposition after being introduced just days before.
“Our state cannot afford another attack on the immigrants who have built this country’s foundation,” said Sen. Orrock. “This will hurt our economy, just like last year’s ‘reform’, which kept food off the shelves at grocery stores, hurt rural farmers and lost more than $300 million from our state’s agriculture industry. SB 458 will hinder our state’s economic growth by denying higher education to those academically qualified, but like Dr. Martin Luther King’s once said – we will overcome because the moral arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice.”
Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance, American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, Freedom University, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, University System of Georgia students and educators, K-12 students and educators and others spoke during the rally opposing HB 59 and SB 458.
Senator Orrock has been named a 2012 Immigration Hero for her local activism by the Immigrants’ List, the only bi-partisan, pro-immigration political action committee in the country.
RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
February 28, 2012
For Information Contact:
Natalie Dale, Director
Kate Greer, Broadcast Specialist
kate.greer@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028