DACA in Dalton

The residents of Dalton, Georgia, a place where Donald Trump won more than 70% of the vote in 2016, are keeping a watchful eye over the debates concerning immigration. Specifically businesses that employ immigrants because despite businesses booming there, they are experiencing a labor shortage and many of the people that are still willing to work in these factories are DACA recipients. In this npr article the president of the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce, Rob Bradham, is quoted saying "DACA is a big issue for us... Just because they're valuable employees to our industries and we don't want to lose them". A major industry in Dalton is the carpet industry which most of the carpet sold in America comes from Dalton. As a matter of fact, after World War II wall-to-wall carpeting was invented there and Dalton refers to itself as the "carpet capital of the world". Although business owners quoted in this article support Trump because they believe he is good for business, they are becoming increasingly nervous due to the uncertainty of his immigration policies.

Community leaders are worried about how the local economy and businesses will be impacted if there were to be a significant loss in their present labor force as a result of potential ICE raids. Thomas Homan, the acting director of ICE has declared that "this year you're gonna see a significant increase in worksite enforcement". As we have already seen by the 7-11 raids, ICE is putting their director's words into action. Not only are employers nervous about the future, but many immigrant families living and working in Dalton are nervous and fearful too.

https://www.npr.org/2018/02/19/585770437/why-employers-in-georgia-are-watching-the-immigration-debate-closely