The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) wants the state's congressional leaders to push back against President Donald Trump's latest deportation efforts.
Jerry Gonzalez, the Executive Director of GALEO, issued a press statement Tuesday calling the deportation policy "dangerous."
"These policies will expand the categories for people who would be prioritized for deportation. This is a dangerous policy which would terrorize our communities and wreck [sic] havoc on our economy," Gonzalez wrote.
Gonzalez pointed specifically to Georgia industries that would be impacted if mass deportations should take place. He said the agriculture industry relies heavily on immigrant labor, much of which he said is provided by undocumented workers.
"$16B annually is produced by immigrant labor," Gonzalez wrote. "In Georgia history when we had immigration raids during the Vidalia Onion picking season, our Congressional delegation was quick to stop these raids because of the potential economic impact. Now, we need our Georgia Governor, state leadership and all of our Congressional delegation to denounce these plans and to work against the efforts to tear apart families and to harm Georgia's economic prosperity."
Gonzalez said not only is the Vidalia onion crop at stake, but also the carpet, poultry, construction, landscaping and service industries will be adversely impacted by the Trump plan.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates 377,000 undocumented persons live in Georgia; 72% of those are from Mexico and Central America.
The order from the Department of Homeland Security issued Tuesday outlines a plan to increase immigration enforcement, including the hiring of thousands of additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
