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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2011)
news Backpacks Students Protest Georgia’s Immigrant Profiling Law continued from page 1 said Schwab. The result was a puzzle drive from her home district that yielded more than 80 puzzles. Additionally, Schwab’s family and friends also donated puzzles bringing the total number of puzzles to more than 160, enough for each student to receive their own. The Ostad Khalil Ullah Khalili Orphans Education Center was built in 2009 and is funded by the Afghan government. The students take classes in science, computers, reading and arithmetic. But, according to the orphan education center Director, Naqib Jami, finding qualified teachers in Afghanistan is very difficult. “Our teachers only make about [the equiva- lent] $80 American in salary,” said Jami. “So, it is very hard to find peo- ple that have the skills to teach science courses for so little money.” mabLeTOn, Ga. (AP) — About 100 stu- dents walked out of class at a suburban Atlanta high school on Tuesday, protesting Georgia’s new law cracking down on illegal immigration and a new Georgia university system policy that effectively bars illegal immigrant students from the five most com- petitive state colleges and universities. The students at Pebblebrook High School in Mableton left class at 2 p.m. and rallied outside the school. Several illegal immigrant students shared their stories and some other stu- dents expressed their support for their ille- gal immigrant friends. “I feel like doing something like this raises awareness and also shows our voices,” said Dulce Guerrero, a senior who was brought to the U.S. illegally when she was 2 years old. “I’m here to give all undocumented students Page 12 The Portland and Seattle Skanner may 18, 2011 a face.” It wasn’t immediately clear if the students would face any penalty for walking out of class. A woman who answered the phone at the school said the administration had no comment and a spokesman for the Cobb County School District did not immediately return a call seeking comment. the immigration status of new hires. The Georgia university system implement- ed a new policy last year that would bar any school that had rejected an academically qualified applicant in the previous two year from accepting illegal immigrants. The students called May 17 a symbolic day because that was the day in 1954 that the Supreme Court handed down a decision that declared segregated schools unconstitutional. The Rev. Timothy McDonald, a civil rights activist, addressed the students gathered outside the school. He is a former staff mem- ber of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organ- ization founded by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that led the movement for equality and justice for blacks. “There is no doubt in my mind that if Dr. King were alive today, he would be here,” McDonald said. “I am a firm believer that immigration is the 21st century civil rights issue and we will win.” Several illegal immigrant students shared their stories and some other students expressed their support for their illegal immigrant friends Georgia’s new law would authorize law enforcement officers to check the immigra- tion status of certain suspects and would penalize people who transport or harbor ille- gal immigrants in certain circumstances. It also would require many employers to check
