(Originally posted at Deny My Freedom)Back in early May, I went to Chicago and participated in the
Day Without an Immigrant marches. It not only was the single-most impressive event I have ever witnessed, but it also was the inspiration for my friends and I to start our own blog. This event told us we could have a voice, and that everyone deserves to be heard.
One of the points of that march, which was displayed with vivid imagery that day, was that a United States without immigrants was not much of a nation at all. Anti-immigration groups scoffed at the idea that we could not survive without the economic support we receive from these people, and in fact have gone out of their way to portray immigrants as a burden on our economy.
Maybe they should ask the residents of Stillmore, Georgia.
From the
AP:
Trailer parks lie abandoned. The poultry plant is scrambling to replace more than half its workforce. Business has dried up at stores where Mexican laborers once lined up to buy food, beer and cigarettes just weeks ago.
This Georgia community of about 1,000 people has become little more than a ghost town since Sept. 1, when federal agents began rounding up illegal immigrants.
The sweep has had the unintended effect of underscoring just how vital the illegal immigrants were to the local economy.
More than 120 illegal immigrants have been loaded onto buses bound for immigration courts in Atlanta, 189 miles away. Hundreds more fled Emanuel County. Residents say many scattered into the woods, camping out for days. They worry some are still hiding without food.
In the immediate aftermath of these raids, local media sources were gleefully reporting that the hard work of officials had finally paid off. Victory over illegal immigration!
As part of a month's-long investigation into the unlawful hiring of illegal aliens, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted enforcement actions over the Labor Day weekend in the areas of Stillmore, Metter and Oak Park. The enforcement actions focused on individuals who used fraudulent documents to obtain employment at a particular location.
Over the weekend of Sept. 1-3, ICE agents took roughly 90 to 100 individuals
But if there is one thing the community of Stillmore has learned, it is that these roundups don't just affect the immigrants who are targeted. These are communities that are being destroyed, and the town is simply devastated:
At Sucursal Salina No. 2, a store stocked with Mexican fruit sodas and snacks, cashier Alberto Gonzalez said Wednesday that the owner may shutter the place. By midday, Gonzalez has had only six customers. Normally, he would see 100.
The B&S convenience store, owned by Keith and Regan Slater, the mayor's son and grandson, has lost about 80 percent of its business.
"These people come over here to make a better way of life, not to blow us up," complained Keith Slater, who keeps a portrait of Ronald Reagan on the wall. "I'm a die-hard Republican, but I think we missed the boat with this one."
Since the mid-1990s, Stillmore has grown dependent on the paychecks of Mexican workers who originally came for seasonal farm labor, picking the area's famous Vidalia onions. Many then took year-round jobs at the Crider plant, with a workforce of about 900.
I realize that the question of immigration reform is one that transcends the traditional party lines, but I think that as these stories prove that this isn't an issue between the federal government and these immigrants: This is an issue for all of America.
Federal agents also swarmed into a trailer park operated by David Robinson. Illegal immigrants were handcuffed and taken away. Almost none have returned. Robinson bought an American flag and posted it by the pond out front -- upside down, in protest.
"These people might not have American rights, but they've damn sure got human rights," Robinson said. "There ain't no reason to treat them like animals."
The people of Stillmore, Georgia understand this, as they now have to try and pick up the pieces of their shattered town. One citizen said the raids remind her of Nazi Germany, and I suppose the Gestapo analogy isn't too far off base. Stillmore residents describe themselves as, "Poor but proud," but these raids will undoubtedly create more of the former than anything else. And as both parties do their best to hide from the issue of immigration this election cycle, the answers are not going to be coming any time soon. One thing is for certain though: The people of Stillmore don't feel any safer tonight, and neither should we.