In deep-red Dalton, fear and frustration over Trump’s immigration crackdown

The drive off I-75 east toward Airport Road tells the story of who and what Dalton is today. As the four-lane roads become two lanes, hulking factories give way to small businesses and markets. The languages on the signs change, too, from English to Spanish. Instead of Chick-Fil-A and Arby’s, it’s taquerias and carnicerias.

I met America Gruner in a strip mall between El Ranchero restaurant and a Medicina Natural pharmacy at the Hispanic-focused nonprofit she founded in 2006, Coalición De Líderes Latinos (Coalition of Latino Leaders). CLILA began as a way to organize and educate the Hispanic population in the area and has grown to offer English and citizenship classes, homework clubs for kids, business trainings and free legal consultations.

But since February, shortly after Trump was sworn in for a second term, everything in Dalton has changed, Gruner said.

“We see every day reports of people being detained,” she said. “The community now is afraid of going to the store, going to work or going about their lives.”

The highest profile incident lately was that of Ximena Arias-Cristobal, a 19-year-old Dalton State student who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being mistakenly stopped and arrested in Dalton last month by authorities. Arias-Cristobal was eventually released on bond, but Gruner said most of the people she knows in Dalton who have been detained are still in confinement, without their families knowing what’s next.

Gruner and CLILA now spend their days trying to spread the word among Hispanic residents in the area, both documented and undocumented, about how to avoid being stopped by authorities and what to do if they are.

“Know your rights, don’t drive without a license, make a family plan,” she counsels. Above all, do not answer the door, she said. “You never know who is on the other side.”

If it seems like a siege mentality, that’s what it feels like, she said. Even as we sat in her office, a text message popped up on her phone, warning that ICE officers were in nearby Calhoun. It was one of many false alarms she said she sees every day. But the fear in the community makes anything seem possible.

“It’s very stressful, but at the same time, what motivates me is that this is not fair. It is based on lies, on hate. And I see the suffering of the families every day,” she said.

It’s a different world 10 minutes away in busy downtown Dalton. That’s where I met Kasey Carpenter for lunch at his restaurant, the Oakwood Cafe.

Carpenter also owns a pizza restaurant further down the historic street, along with a hotel, The Carpentry, across the road. And despite the fact that he is a Republican state representative and a Trump supporter, he is also deeply troubled by the president’s immigration policies, especially the recent raids around the country.

“I still think Trump was the best choice,” he said. “Do I think this particular piece of his platform is going for our community? I don’t.”

Carpenter has been an outspoken supporter of the Hispanic community in Dalton, whom he said attends his church, plays football in his son’s recreation leagues and fuels the region’s economy with a stable, reliable workforce.

“Those aren’t people who are here to take your job or hurt you,” he said. “They’re just living life, trying to do the best they can for their family.”

The Republican has taken withering heat from conservative activists in Whitfield County, including a censure from the GOP, who say Thump’s mass deportations are the way to go. But Carpenter said that’s not living in the real world.

“Anybody you know in construction or landscaping or farming will tell you this country would not work without these folks,” he said. “And so, when you spew all this hate across the board against people and accept them for criminals who are here to take stuff, it’s simply not true.”

Credit: Patricia Murphy

Credit: Patricia Murphy

Ideally, he said he’d like to see the Southern border closed and dangerous criminals deported, but he also wants a path to legal status for the vast majority of immigrants working and living peacefully in the United States.

As a state representative, he said he gets five or six calls per week from families asking for help for a friend or family member who has been detained. “It’s just heartbreaking,” he said.

Beyond the emotion of it all and the potentially devastating consequences for businesses, Carpenter said Republicans in the area will also have a heavy price to pay if Trump’s aggressive raids and mass deportations continue.

“The Hispanics are more likely to be Republican than they are liberal. They check nine out of 10 boxes,” he said. “The only box is, ‘I’m sorry, you deported my uncle. I’m never going to vote for you.’ We’ll lose them for 50 years.”

With that, Carpenter pushed back from the table and headed across the street to his next meeting, past the cashier up front and a “Radiate Jesus” sign on the door. The news on the car radio brought word of more immigration crackdowns across the country to come.

And I was off to my next stop on the road.