RALEIGH, N.C. -- Activists in Raleigh put a twist on the nativity story on Sunday.

• The "No Room At The Inn" event retold the story with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as immigrants turned away by state lawmakers.
• The groups marched down Jones Street from the North Carolina Community Colleges headquarters to the Legislative Building.
• Their goal was to ensure undocumented immigrants and Dream Act recipients could receive in-state tuition from state colleges and universities.

El Pueblo and the North Carolina NAACP's "No Room At The Inn" event retold the story with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as immigrants turned away by state lawmakers.

"It is an immigrant story," said Ana Blackburn of the North Carolina NAACP. "This is how this nation was founded, and we can't get around that."

The groups marched down Jones Street from the North Carolina Community Colleges headquarters to the Legislative Building. Their goal was to ensure undocumented immigrants and Dream Act recipients living in North Carolina could receive in-state tuition from state colleges and universities.

"We want to stake a claim in how our world is being shaped around us," said Raina Lee, a student at Green Hope High School and the daughter of Korean immigrants. "We are sending a message that we are the deciders of the direction our state and country are taking."

"We can't move forward without a future, and there is no future without our immigrant community," added Blackburn.

North Carolina Republican Party Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse responded to the event. In a statement to Spectrum News, he said "The professional left never takes a day off, even for Christ's birthday. For heaven's sake, somebody get them some eggnog."