Judge Rules To Halt Deportation Process For Former KSU Student: ICYMI

KENNESAW, GA -- A U.S. judge has ordered that the deportation process for a former Kennesaw State University student be temporarily halted, Patch has learned. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Cohen's order, issued Monday, means that the government's bid to send 28-year-old Jessica Colotl back to Mexico has been rebuffed -- for now.

Colotl, a paralegal from Norcross, became the face of the undocumented immigrant debate in 2010 when the then-student was arrested on KSU's campus after being pulled over for a minor traffic violation. She thought her troubles were behind her when the junior political science student satisfied requirements from the Cobb County District Attorney, including completion of a pretrial diversion program to avoid a conviction for lying to authorities about her address.

In 2012, the Obama Administration created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to protect people who had been reared in the United States but were undocumented. President Donald Trump has vowed to revoke DACA protections as part of a broad crackdown on illegal immigrants.

In his order Monday, Cohen wrote that the government “failed to present any evidence that they complied with their own administrative processes and procedures” in terminating Colotl’s DACA status, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Colotl grew up undocumented in the United States after arriving from Mexico when she was 11 years old.

Colotl currently works as a paralegal at Kuck Immigration Partners.

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