When an illegal immigrant attending Kennesaw State University was arrested on a traffic violation last spring, she inadvertently reignited a debate over whether students like her should be allowed to attend Georgia’s public colleges.
As lawmakers on Tuesday debated a bill that would bar these students from campuses, Jessica Colotl’s own legal struggles continued.
A Cobb County grand jury indicted her Thursday on a felony charge of making a false statement. Officials said she gave a false address and telephone number when she was booked into jail following her arrest on charges of driving without a license and impeding the flow of traffic.
Colotl was nearly deported after the arrest, but she was granted a yearlong deferment to complete her political science degree. She is on track to graduate in May from Kennesaw State, said her immigration attorney, Charles Kuck.
Kuck said Tuesday that, as discussions continue with officials, there is a possibility Colotl could remain in the country.
Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head said that criminal cases like the one now facing Colotl "usually work themselves out before they go to trial" because they are "sort of cut and dried."
Although the punishment for making a false statement can be up to five years in prison, a first offender with no criminal history is commonly sentenced to a diversion program or probation, Head said.
Colotl was a child when she was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by her parents. She is among an estimated 480,000 illegal immigrants living in Georgia, according to a 2009 report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
A woman who answered Colotl’s cell phone Tuesday declined to identify herself or answer a reporter’s questions.
Jerome Lee, Colotl's criminal defense attorney, said her fame helped free her from immigration detention. But lately, he said, it has harmed her criminal case. Colotl was sentenced to three days in jail in November after a Cobb County jury found her guilty of driving without a license. She hasn't served her sentence yet. The case is on hold while her lawyers appeal the outcome.
"I really wish the world would leave this poor little girl alone," Lee said. "But it doesn’t seem like she is going to get left alone."
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