Community Corner

WATCH: Protest Planned for Screening of Film on Illegal Immigration at Rockville Library

Filmmaker Dennis M. Lynch screened and discussed 'They Come to America' in Carroll County on Tuesday.

 

A filmmaker and his controversial film come to town on Wednesday night and protestors are mobilizing to descend on Rockville Town Square.

Dennis M. Lynch is on a 50-city tour to promote They Come to America, a film that looks at the problems with illegal immigration in America.

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Help Save Maryland, a Rockville-based group that opposes illegal immigration, is hosting a screening and discussion of the film with Lynch at 7 p.m. in the second floor meeting room of the .

The group promoted the film in an email calling it: "The Must See Illegal Immigration Film So Many People Don't Want You To See!"

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Justice for Students in America on Wednesday posted a call to action on Facebook and Twitter, encouraging protestors to gather at 6:30 p.m.:

@TheJSAMovement PROTEST TONIGHT 6:30 ROCKVILLE LIBRARY AGAINST SCREENING OF RACIST FILM THEY COME TO AMERICA

JSA advocates for immigration reform and is campaigning in support of the Maryland DREAM Act. The legislation would grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students who graduated from a Maryland high school after attending for at least three years and whose parents filed to pay state taxes.

The legislation .

We the People of Carroll County screened They Come to America and hosted a discussion with Lynch at in Westminster on Tuesday.

A handful of protesters attended the film screening and then joined fellow protesters outside the college’s Scott Center.

We the People chairwoman Michelle Jefferson said that the issue at hand is the fact that people are breaking the law when they are here illegally and should not receive special consideration, including college tuition rates.

"We didn't cause this problem, but we're paying for it in higher taxes, in services that are being drained and jobs that are being lost," Jefferson said. "It isn't fair."

Undocumented immigrants still pay taxes and should receive the benefits of doing so, said Andrew Castro, who attended Tuesday’s screening and is a member of the ANSWER Coalition, another organization supporting the DREAM Act.

 

Are you attending Wednesday’s screening or the protest? Offer up your film reviews in the comments. Send any photos or video to sean.sedam@patch.com.


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