Fernanda Marroquin, Undocumented Protester Arrested In Alabama, Speaks Out Against HB56

Undocumented Protester Arrested In Alabama, Speaks Out Against HB56

"My name is Fernanda Marroquin, and if you're watching this I've been arrested," the young undocumented protester begins her YouTube testimony.

Marroquin, who was one of the 13 protesters of HB56 arrested in Alabama's capitol on Tuesday, says in her video that she's "undocumented... unafraid... and unapologetic."

Alabama's new strict immigration law requires that all schools verify the immigration status of children enrolling for the first time and can even prohibit immigrants residing illegally in the United States from obtaining utilities such as gas and water in their homes. Critics say the law has pushed many Latinos out of the state in the past month.

Growing up in Pennsylvania, Marroquin says she was brought to the United States by her parents eleven years ago so that she might receive a better education. When the young undocumented woman discovered how her status would restrict her opportunities upon graduation from high school, she "lost the hope that I had for the future," she says in the video.

The young Marroquin is now an activist because after "living in fear" for many years, she wants people in her position to know that "they are not alone."

"It's time to take a stand," she says. "For our human rights, for our dignity, for our families, for our communities, and to fight back."

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