Saying they're concerned about proposed budgets cut to higher education and anti-illegal immigration legislation in Florida, a group of USF students say they intend on breaking a record for the longest political speech combined ever - at 78 hours - with Student Body president Cesar Hernandez alone attempting to speak for 24 hours consecutively - all in an attempt to have President Obama come to Tampa to address them directly about their issues of concern.
Speaking to CL on Thursday, Hernandez admits the obvious - staying awake for 24 hours straight will be difficult, let alone speaking for that entire duration. But he says the issues that he and many of his schoolmates are concerned about necessitate such drastic action.
"I want to put my money where my mouth is," he says, as he talked about the disgust that he felt about plans in Tallahassee to possibly raise tuition at Florida state universities by 5 percent.
Hernandez and many other of his fellow students - particularly Latinos - have been passionately protesting proposed legislation in Tallahassee that would mimic in some ways Arizona's controversial anti-illegal immigration bill, and that's another reason for their collective protest next week.
The bills being sponsored are HB 7089 in the House by Republican Will Snyder that would make being undocumented a state crime (it's a federal one now), and in the Senate SB 2040, proposed by Miami's Anitere Flores. That bill would require the police the check the status of an inmate and would require employers to check employees’ immigration status (as does Snyder's bill).
