Illegal Immigrant Youth 'come out' in Reform Push

Eighteen-year-old Dulce Guerrero kept quiet about being an illegal immigrant until earlier this year, when she became upset after a traffic stop that landed her mother in jail for two nights. The arrest came as Georgia lawmakers were crafting what would become one of the nation's toughest immigration crackdowns, and Guerrero feared her mother would be deported.

I feel like that was my breaking point, when my mom was in jail,'' said Guerrero, who came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 2. I felt like, well, that's it, it can't get any worse than this. My mother has been to jail.''

Guerrero first publicly announced her immigration status at a protest in March, and now she's organizing a rally under the tutelage of more experienced activists who are themselves only a few years older. The high-stakes movement of young illegal immigrants declaring that they're undocumented and unafraid'' got a boost this week when a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist revealed he's been living in the country illegally.

Guerrero is the chief organizer of a rally set for Tuesday at the Georgia State Capitol for high school-age illegal immigrants to tell their stories. The recent high school graduate and others hope to draw attention to the plight of the hundreds of thousands of young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents.

Read More Illegal immigrant youth 'come out' in reform push

Mexico, Other Countries Join Georgia's Immigration Suit

Mexico and 10 other countries have joined the legal fight against Georgia's tough new immigration law, warning that the strict crackdown could jeopardize close ties between the U.S. and its Latin American neighbors.

The nations filed briefs late Wednesday in support of civil liberties groups who asked a federal judge to declare Georgia's new law unconstitutional and block it from taking effect. The filing marks a new phase in the legal showdown that has pitted Georgia's attorneys against groups who had threatened to challenge the law even before it was adopted by lawmakers.

Mexico's move also echoes the legal strategy it pursued to challenge tough new immigration rules enacted by other states. Attorneys representing Mexico filed briefs challenging similar legislation adopted in Arizona and Utah.

Georgia's law, known as HB 87, would allow law enforcement to check the immigration status of a suspect who cannot provide identification and empowers them to turn over anyone found to be in the country illegally to federal authorities. It also adds new penalties for those convicted of harboring illegal immigrants and presenting false documents when applying for a job.

Gov. Nathan Deal's office on Thursday declined to comment, but he has praised the legislation as a "responsible step forward" in the absence of federal reform. Earlier this week, Deal urged farmers who claimed workers have been scared away by the new immigration restrictions to hire people on probation to work the fields instead.

The measure, Mexico said, would strain diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Mexico, "interfering with the strategic diplomatic interests of the two countries and encouraging an imminent threat of state-sanctioned bias or discrimination."

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru also filed briefs Wednesday in support of the plaintiffs.

Read More: Mexico, other countries join Georgia's immigration suit

Immigration bill fires up opposition

A bill being called the Safe Students Act would require school principals in North Carolina to ask parents about their child's citizenship and immigration status when the child is enrolled for the first time. That information would be used only for the state's financial analysis, the bill stipulates, and not for immigration enforcement. But the idea has plenty of critics who say the requirement would run afoul of federal law and put school administrators in an adversarial role with families.

"Such a policy poses a substantial risk of chilling children's access to education by fostering the fear that enrollment may bring families to the attention of immigration authorities," said Sarah Preston, lobbyist with the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. But Rep. Dale Folwell, a Winston-Salem Republican and primary sponsor of the bill, said the state should be able to collect data on students' citizenship status to show the true results of the federal government's "unfunded mandate" to educate children who are here illegally.

"We must have fiscal research of the impact that illegal immigration is having on North Carolina," Folwell said. "Some people have estimated that over the last 10 years, North Carolina's illegal immigration population growth rate - growth rate - has exceeded California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas."

It's unclear, though, whether the data collected would provide a complete picture of illegal immigration in the state. The bill would require principals to ask only about the citizenship of students. But any child born in the United States is a citizen, even if his or her parents are illegal.

Read More: Immigration bill fires up opposition