Colotl v Kelly

On June 6, 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Georgia, and Kuck Immigration Partners LLC took legal action to restore Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections to DREAMer Jessica Colotl. The Trump administration had suddenly and arbitrarily revoked Colotl’s DACA status, even though immigration authorities had granted her DACA twice previously, and there had been no change in her circumstances.

In denying the request to renew her DACA status and work permit, the U.S. government was stripping Colotl’s authorization to live and work in the United States. The legal action filed by the ACLU demanded that the Department of Homeland Security reinstate Colotl’s protected status under DACA and re-evaluate her renewal application under the same consistent standards it used to grant her previous approvals.

Colotl, a resident of Georgia, is a 28-year-old citizen of Mexico who has lived in the United States since she moved here in 1999 when she was 11 years old. She graduated with honors from Lakeside High School in DeKalb County, Georgia, in May 2006. She then attended Kennesaw State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2011.

Since graduating, Colotl has worked as a paralegal at Kuck Immigration Partners LLC and aspired to attend law school to become an immigration lawyer.

She also continued to serve the community, volunteering for the Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference, donating platelets at the Northside Hospital in Atlanta, and fundraising for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Colotl is a member of Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church in Norcross, Georgia, and a passionate advocate for immigrants’ rights and immigration reform.

Under the DACA program, immigrants who came to the U.S. as children are able to apply for a work permit and temporary protection against deportation.

UPDATE 5/25/18: The Department of Homeland Security agreed to renew Jessica Colotl’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and work permit to resolve a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Georgia, and Kuck Baxter Immigration in May 2017 against DHS for arbitrarily terminating Jessica’s DACA and rejecting her renewal application.