Roughly 20 Georgia college students protested outside the state Board of Regents meeting Tuesday. They want the Regents to repeal their policy prohibiting undocumented students from attending Georgia’s top public universities.

The Board of Regents estimates that less than 1 percent of Georgia’s public college students are undocumented immigrants.

But Keish Kim, a 20-year-old undocumented student, argued that those students make a positive contribution to their campuses. She asked the Regents to look beyond the numbers.

"Every application rejected solely based on immigration status represents hundreds of crumbling dreams and goals of aspiring students in Georgia," Kim said.

Current University of Georgia student Carlos Cardoza-Oquendo challenged Regent Mansfield Jennings to appeal the ban quickly.

"Will the board take action in the upcoming month?" Cardoza-Oquendo asked.

"That would be hard to predict at this time," Jennings replied. "As you know, the board is not known for rapid decisions."

But Jennings told the students he would take the students’ appeal to the full board.

Tags: Board of Regents