Dallas-Fort Worth Immigration Lawyer

In an Associated Press story widely reported in newspapers and on Web sites, Stillmore Georgia is described as a near ghost town after the loss of much of its immigrant population.

The town of about 1,000 people was practically depopulated when federal agents swept up more than 120 illegal immigrants and sent them to immigration court in Atlanta. As the AP article stated, "The sweep has had the unintended effect of illustrating how vital the illegal immigrants were to the local economy." Here are other excerpts from the story:

In August, the federal government reported that Georgia had the fastest-growing illegal-immigrant population in the country. The number more than doubled from an estimated 220,000 in 2000 to 470,000 last year. This year, Georgia lawmakers passed some of the nation's toughest measures targeting illegal immigrants, and Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue last week promised a statewide crackdown on document fraud.

At Sucursal Salina No. 2, a store stocked with Mexican fruit sodas and snacks, cashier Alberto Gonzalez said the owner may shutter the place. By midday, Gonzalez had only six customers. Normally, he would see about 100.

The B&S convenience store, owned by Keith and Regan Slater, the mayor's son and grandson, 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 work force of about 900.

Crider president David Purtle said federal agents began inspecting the company's employment records in May. They found 700 suspected illegal immigrants, and supervisors handed out letters over the summer ordering the 700 to prove they came to the United States legally or be fired. About 100 kept their jobs.

The poultry plant has limped along with half its normal work force. Crider increased its starting wages by $1 an hour to help recruit workers.