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Subscribe to RSSMore than 1,000 students at North Miami High School in Miami, Fla., protest the deportation order for 18-year-old Daniela Pelaez, the school's valedictorian. WTVJ-TV's Jeff Burnside reports.
MIAMI -- Classmates of a North Miami High School valedictorian facing deportation protested Friday morning.
An immigration judge on Monday ordered the deportation of 18-year-old Daniela Pelaez, who was brought illegally to the United States by her parents when she was 4 years old.
Holding signs and shouting "Education not deportation" and "let her stay," the students filed out of their classrooms around 9 a.m.
Pelaez met with Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who later walked out with her to joining the protest holding her hand.
"Over my dead body will this child be deported," Carvalho said.
Read NBCMiami.com's coverage of student's immigration battle
Emily Sell, Pelaez's best friend and the organizer of the protest, showed up at the school bright and early Friday to help her friend.
"We've been making posters like crazy," said Sell, the school's salutatorian. "I hope this march brings the proper attention to the issue of deportation."
Pelaez expressed her appreciation for her friends' actions when she arrived for school before the protest.
"They're the vanguard," Pelaez said.
Pelaez left Colombia in 1998 with her parents, who entered the United States illegally and divorced before Pelaez could become a citizen. She told NBC Miami Thursday that she has no memory of Colombia and loves her friends and this country.
"I've been asked the question before: 'Do I feel American?' or 'Do I believe I am?'" she said. "And I don't think it's a question. I'm American. I know the national anthem. I know the laws. I know what it is to be an American."
Pelaez has earned nearly all A's in the school's international baccalaureate program, but her ability to go to college is threatened substantially by her immigration status.
Late Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a statement saying it will not take further steps in the case until the conclusion of Pelaez's appeal on the judge's decision.
Not everyone agrees Pelaez should stay.
"She should be deported," said Linda Simmons, who has a son in ninth grade at North Miami High. "Her parents broke the law."
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Is anyone else surprised at how the 'should she be deported?' poll went from essentially a 50/50 split to a 44 yes/56 no tally in about a day? can you say 'well trained activists clicking?'
she should be kick out of the country but before she goes she needs to give back all the welfare that was used for her and her mommy and daddy , cause i know allot of AMERICAN families that could really use it, she she should along with her family do some time in jail, she knew she was here illegally and she kept going to an AMERICAN school and get an AMERICAN education so by staying here and not even trying to become legal lock them up for a couple years and then off you go with no option of coming back, we need to get harder on these dead beats that are sucking our system down the F-N drain and all you bone heads that are going to start ripping me apart, my ancestors were here to meet the European jerks as they came off their little boats and started taking their land ALL ILLEGALS NEED TO GO HOME BOTTOM LINE!!!!!!!!!!!
She should be deported, as should all illegal immigrants. Its the law and the government doesnt have the right to not enforce the law. Her parents did her a disservice by bringing her here illegally, they should have thought about her future amd how their actions would affect her. Its not the terrible government that caused this, its her irresponsible parents. People need to take responsibility for their actions, what starts bad ends bad. I have no ill will towards her personally, but the law is written so neither the rich nor the poor can steal a loaf of bread.
If they don't deport her, she is going to want to go to college. Who is going to pay for college? I am totally against any financial aid or "in state tuition" since being an illegal alien does not legally give you residency in any state. Illegals pay no taxes to any state or to the federal government, so there should be no college education for this girl if she is allowed to stay unless her parents pay for the entire amount as if she is from a foreign country. No free ride. I feel sorry for her, but any tuition assistance or break should go to families who have been paying taxes.
Leave her alone!!!!! She may become president.
of Colombia, where she was born!
The law is the law. Even she says she knows US law. The line has to be drawn somewhere. If we make one exception, there will be more and more, to the point that the law, not only this law, has not meaning.
she did get to stay, she was given a 2-year stay, but what after that, can we say 'stealth amnesty'?
One of my best friends families were deported too. She was brought over when she was three and her brother was a baby. I don't blame her parents, they did as much as they could to make a better life for their children. They were even trying to become legal. They paid thousands of dollars to stay an extra six months and extra six months while they tried to become legal. They never became legal, though. They couldn't keep affording to pay thousands every six months to stay and had to go back. My friends graduation doesn't even count down there. They have been gone for five years now. They were american. Her dad was even a volunteer firefighter. Mexico was foreign to them. Her parents were told they wouldn't be 'punished' and they were. Her mom can't even apply to come visit for ten years. They have a harder time to try to get up here because they were illegal even though they tried for years to become legal. It is really sad because it is their 'home' up here.
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
Unless it will make someone shed a tear! DHS will fondle your wife, daughters, grandmothers & you at the airport but they don't want to hurt this poor little ILLEGAL feelings. T.F.B. Illegal is illegal, send every last one back when they are caught. No Exceptions.
What I would like to know is how does the child of illegal immigrants sign up for public education in the US? When I enrolled my child into kindergarten it was a detailed process. Birth Certificate, proof of address and residency in the district, and complete immunization records. Many people do not know that if their kids are not properly immunized or you sign the waiver of immunization, your contact information is sent directly to your local police authorities to keep on file.
At Mass, Father Lorenzo said that illegal immigrants are stealing 8 million non-agricultural jobs from 22 million unemployed Americans and they are breaking the Eighth Commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Steal". He also said that people who assist them are also breaking the Eighth commandment and they are committing a Mortal Sin.
She was allowed to stay for 2 years to get her house in order: do her paperwork... Common sense has prevailed.
The live poll says: 44% for deportation, 56% against.
And what does the Federal Immigration Law say? We are a nation of laws.
22 million Americans are unemployed. The Federal Government and many state governments are broke.
97% of all illegal immigrants do not work in agriculture.
"Illegal immigrants work in many sectors of the U.S. economy. According to National Public Radio in 2005, about 3 percent work in agriculture; 33 percent have jobs in service industries; and substantial numbers can be found in construction and related occupations (16 percent), and in production, installation, and repair (17 percent). According to USA Today in 2006, about 4 percent work in farming; 21 percent have jobs in service industries; and substantial numbers can be found in construction and related occupations (19 percent), and in production, installation, and repair (15 percent), with 12% in sales, 10% in management, and 8% in transportation. Illegal immigrants have lower incomes than both legal immigrants and native-born Americans, but earnings do increase somewhat the longer an individual is in the country."
and what about the people that follow the law and have to wait more than 2 years, OUTSIDE the U.S. to get their house in order? (they have never entered the U.S. illegally, so why make them wait OUTSIDE?
The USA is overpopulated. The fastest way to reduce population is to deport 15 million illegal aliens. Call your members of Congress and tell them to pass H.R. 2885, the Legal Workforce Act.
She should return to Columbia to make her home country a better place.
She and any other family members that are in this country illegally should be deported. A high GPA does not excuse you from breaking the law.
I cannot jump on board to save this one girl from deportation. What sort of message does that send? "Yes, we realize she was in this country illegally but, well she showed such promise." Come ICE grow a pair!!!!
Just execute illegal aliens on the spot. Let nature clean up the mess.
Granted the parents broke the law by illegally entering the country with their 4 year old child. that doesn't make the child responsible. It's ridiculous to tell this 18 year old that she has to go back to a country she doesn't know. You ARE NOT SENDING HER HOME, but to a FOREIGN LAND. If our Government has allowed this child to grow up here all these years we have no right to uproot her. we have statutes of limitations that allows guys like the 'Wheaton Bandit' to rob several federal banks and not be charged because he wasn't caught within 5 years. But, we can have a person charged 14 years later, for what her parents did?, why aren't there any statutes of limitations? is not robbing a bank a worst crime than crossing a border?
To Linda Simmons, who has a son in the ninth grade at North Miami High. who said "Her parents broke the law." and so the child should be deported. What kind of sense is that? Punish the kid for what the parents do? What laws to we abide by that allows our children to be punished for acts that we as parents commit?