ATLANTA — Wednesday marks three years of Latino Day at the state capitol. It’s registered as a nonpartisan event with the goal of having members of the Latino community talk to lawmakers.
But on Tuesday, conservative Latino groups held their own Latino Day at the state capitol, all of them saying they fully support President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and the ICE targeted operations inside their communities.
Loganville Republican Rey Martinez insists those operations are just targeting criminals.
“You have to focus on what the Trump administration is saying. They want to get rid of the bad apples first. They want to get rid of first, the people who are here illegally, obviously, they broke the law,” Martinez said.
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But the ICE operations and Trump’s immigration policies are having an impact on the reported 1.1 million Latinos living in Georgia.
Channel 2’s Richard Elliot spoke with the Georgia Hispanic Construction Association’s Jefferson Dominguez.
He concedes many Latino construction workers, even the ones here legally, are opting to stay home rather than come to work.
He pleads with them not to listen to rumors and to come back.
“I have to admit that there’s some people afraid because of misinformation that they see on some platforms that’s not true,” Dominguez said.
But Smyrna Democrat Gabriel Danchez believes it is true that many people are getting caught up in these targeted operations and that fear of arrest is running rampant through their community.
“People are terrified right now, and that’s exactly what they want. They want to terrify communities because they want to get rid of everyone who is not rich or a white immigrant in this nation,” Sanchez said.
There is another Latino Day celebration Wednesday, which will feature organizations including the Latino Community Fund Georgia and Galeo.
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