Imagine you are a kid growing up in Georgia. You attend elementary school with kids from your neighborhood. In high school, you cheer on the football team; you attend prom with
your sweetheart; you have dreams of going to college. You are an American. Until one day you realize you’re not. You don’t have the same rights as your classmates because you are undocumented. And the state you call home has banned you from its universities. |
THE UNAFRAID is a feature length documentary that follows the personal lives of three DACAmented students in Georgia, a state that has banned undocumented and DACA students from attending their top five public universities and disqualifies them from receiving in-state tuition at any other public college. Shot over a period of four years, this film takes an intimate look at the lives of Alejandro, Silvia and Aldo and the obstacles they face in their home state when trying to go to college. This is also a story about family and the systemic challenges faced by the working poor and undocumented in the Deep South.
THE BAN
In October 2010, the Georgia Board of Regents passes Policy 4.1.6, banning undocumented students from the top five public universities in Georgia (University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Augusta University, and Georgia College), and Policy 4.3.4, banning undocumented students from in-state tuition rates. Georgia becomes only one of three states - including Alabama and South Carolina - to pass an admissions ban against undocumented students, effectively ushering in a new era of educational segregation in the U.S. South. (Source: Freedom University).
THE STUDENTS
"In history class in school, they teach us about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But sometimes in the place where you were born that’s not an option... and that’s one of the reasons I’m here. That’s the reason a lot of us are here." - Alejandro “Cheesecake”
Alejandro (aka Cheesecake) - Cheesecake, 17, has just graduated from high school when we meet him, and is working two jobs to help support his family. He wants to go to college and study sociology and art, but after graduation, Cheesecake has no affordable options for going to college in Georgia and spends the next year working full-time and applying to out-of-state schools that accept undocumented or DACA-mented students.
Alejandro (aka Cheesecake) - Cheesecake, 17, has just graduated from high school when we meet him, and is working two jobs to help support his family. He wants to go to college and study sociology and art, but after graduation, Cheesecake has no affordable options for going to college in Georgia and spends the next year working full-time and applying to out-of-state schools that accept undocumented or DACA-mented students.
"I'm a Georgia boy. I grew up here in Georgia. All of our support system is here in Georgia. All I've ever known is Georgia." - Aldo
Aldo, 18, grew up with Cheesecake in the same predominantly undocumented Latino trailer park outside of Athens. He came to the U.S. from Mexico with his parents when he was 4, and is an only child adored by his parents and his activist uncles. Eager to attend college after graduating from high school, Aldo wants to attend community college, but he would have to pay international tuition which is three times the in-state tuition other Georgia students are charged.
"I'm a Georgia boy. I grew up here in Georgia. All of our support system is here in Georgia. All I've ever known is Georgia." - Aldo
Aldo, 18, grew up with Cheesecake in the same predominantly undocumented Latino trailer park outside of Athens. He came to the U.S. from Mexico with his parents when he was 4, and is an only child adored by his parents and his activist uncles. Eager to attend college after graduating from high school, Aldo wants to attend community college, but he would have to pay international tuition which is three times the in-state tuition other Georgia students are charged.
“I’ve been really lucky. I got an education, I graduated [high school], I spoke the language... I’ve never had any obstacles. Until now that I want to go to college, and I can’t pursue that.” - Silvia
Silvia (Lili), 17, lives with her parents and extended family when we meet her, helping to take care of her younger sisters, and working at a fast food restaurant. She also makes time to be a leader in the undocumented student movement. She wants more than anything to stay in Georgia for college, and begins exploring how much it would cost to attend a nearby community college paying the international tuition DACA students have to pay in Georgia. Finding out how expensive it is, and that she would not qualify for any financial aid or tuition assistance, she throws herself into the fight for in-state tuition for DACA students in Georgia, until an unexpected opportunity comes up.
“I’ve been really lucky. I got an education, I graduated [high school], I spoke the language... I’ve never had any obstacles. Until now that I want to go to college, and I can’t pursue that.” - Silvia
Silvia (Lili), 17, lives with her parents and extended family when we meet her, helping to take care of her younger sisters, and working at a fast food restaurant. She also makes time to be a leader in the undocumented student movement. She wants more than anything to stay in Georgia for college, and begins exploring how much it would cost to attend a nearby community college paying the international tuition DACA students have to pay in Georgia. Finding out how expensive it is, and that she would not qualify for any financial aid or tuition assistance, she throws herself into the fight for in-state tuition for DACA students in Georgia, until an unexpected opportunity comes up.