WATCH: Filmmaker Engages Protesters in Illegal Immigration Discussion

DREAM Act advocates protested a screening of the film They Come to America, hosted by a local offshoot of the tea party, at Carroll Community College Tuesday evening.

We the People of Carroll County hosted filmmaker Dennis M. Lynch, who is on a 50-city tour to promote his film , which according to Lynch's website "focuses on the human and financial costs of illegal immigration."

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

We the People Chairperson 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."

Andrew Castro is a member of the ANSWER Coalition, an organization that supports the Maryland DREAM Act. The DREAM Act allows high-performing, undocumented immigrant students to attend college locally while paying in-state tuition rates.

"We believe that the film is intended to spread misinformation about immigrants coming to the United States," Castro said. "We feel it’s spreading a lot of racist lies and distorting the truth of immigrants who come to this country. We’re here to challenge that."

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