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News

Activist sparks heated debate

By Barrett Goldsmith
Senior Staff Writer

Nearly 100 UH students protested against anti-immigration activist Frosty Wooldridge, who was on campus Wednesday to speak out against a controversial Texas House bill. A group of nearly 100 protesters marched along a grassy patch in Lynn Eusan Park on Wednesday, showing their opposition to a speech that never came.

Instead, the object of their criticism, Frosty Wooldridge, an anti-immigration activist and author, set up shop in a drop-in expression area adjacent to the power plant and between the University Center and the M.D. Anderson Memorial Library. Wooldridge had planned to deliver a speech opposing mass immigration, specifically a 2001 Texas House bill that allows foreign-born, non-resident students to attend Texas universities and pay in-state tuition rates.

"I realized that there wasn't anyone (at the park) that was really interested in hearing what I had to say," he said. "So I just came over here to answer some questions for anyone who was interested."

Eventually the crowd -- all the members of which seemed opposed to Wooldridge's message -- moved to the free speech zone, surrounding Wooldridge and Preston Wiginton, who organized the event. Many held signs, and a few groups of several dozen stood behind large ground-level banners. 

Wooldridge spoke mainly of global politics and the way in which mass immigration negatively impacts a developed nation like the United States. The speech was planned as part of a six-school tour of Texas universities. 

"I want to start a reasoned debate about the future of this country, a future that is in jeopardy from the constant wave of new people coming across our borders," Wooldridge said. "You have a country that's overpopulated and without the resource to help the people that are already here. We don't need to keep adding more people we don't have room for." 

But the protesters seemed to take more issue with Wiginton, whose rhetoric was more fiery and accusatory. A large crowd coalesced around Wiginton and a Wooldridge supporter who would identify himself only as "George." 

UH Police Department officers were on hand to ensure the safety of the participants, and at several points their presence may have prevented the debate from escalating into something else. At one point, Wiginton caused an uproar when he said European settlers were right to subdue the Native Americans with force, and that Manifest Destiny was a high point in the country's history. 

But most of the debate remained civil, as the protesters disputed Wiginton's claims about the bill that favors non-resident students, which he argued should be overturned. 

"This is not an immigration issue, this is an education issue," said Julia Rincon, president of Young Immigrants for a Better Future. "This is about giving people who have come to this country the chance to better themselves and contribute to society." 

Student Government Association Speaker Pro-Tem Mark Annas, a member of the UH College Republicans, and Carlos Ayala of the UH Young Democrats were united in support of the bill.

"He called and asked if I would sponsor his petition against the bill, and I said ‘no way,'" Annas said. "College Republicans won't support something that prevents people from getting an education."

Ayala said Wooldridge and Wiginton were incorrect in their assessment of the bill, pointing out that students must have lived in Texas and attended a Texas high school for at least three years to qualify for in-state tuition.

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