Pence tells Dalton crowd Trump will 'end illegal immigration in America'

Registered voters

Total Hispanic voters: 5,539Total voters: 33,923Percent of registered voters who are Hispanic: 16.3 percent

DALTON, Ga. - They hauled their passion into the convention hall - their campaign stickers; their red, white and blue earrings; their Make America Great Again hats.

They brought their opinions, too. Their cheers for the Grand Old Party and boos for Obama and "Lock Her Up!" declarations for Hillary.

During the question-and-answer portion of Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence's town hall forum Tuesday afternoon, a woman who identified herself as Susan from Atlanta wanted to talk about immigration policy.

She believes official statistics are cooked. By her calculations, this country has at least 35 million illegal immigrants - not the 11 million figure that the Department of Homeland Security estimates. How could they possibly keep track of all these people, she asked.

"We have to fix this at the root and quit putting a Band-Aid on the issue," the woman said. "Are y'all going to do anything about that?"

The crowd whooped and clapped. Pence thanked her for the question. During his 35-minute speech at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center, he had not mentioned the immigration policies of his potential boss, Donald Trump. Now, though, he had to say something.

First, Pence told the packed room, they needed to pay attention to a speech Trump will be giving tonight in Arizona. He will lay out his platform on the issue, and Pence will be there to support him. But on Tuesday, Pence was on the other side of the country, here in Georgia to galvanize supporters.

"Donald Trump put the issue of illegal immigration back in the center of the national debate," Pence said, the crowd cheering. "He is going to lead an administration that will end illegal immigration in America."

Pence said President Barack Obama's immigration policies have cost Americans their jobs, suppressed wages and brought dangerous people into the country. He told the crowd that he met a family in Iowa whose daughter died when an undocumented worker crashed a vehicle into hers while drunk.

He said Clinton will continue Obama's policies. Trump, on the other hand, will enforce the law and build a wall on the country's southern border.

Pence's speech came at an interesting time for the Trump campaign, as multiple national media outlets have reported that the presidential nominee will soften his stance on immigration - or at least his tone. The speech also came in an odd location: Dalton, where Census figures indicate that 48 percent of the city is Hispanic.

Last year, Trump separated himself from other Republicans in the primary by tapping into the base of the party's frustration with illegal immigration. He said he would build the wall and enforce mass deportations of those in the country who are undocumented.

"[Mexico is] sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems," Trump said in June 2015. "They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

He reiterated that rhetoric several times in the past year, including in May, when he tweeted that protesters waving a Mexican flag were "thugs" and "criminals." But earlier this month, Trump told Sean Hannity that there could be a "softening" of his immigration stance. He would prefer to kick out "the bad ones," he explained, but he might provide leniency to law-abiding immigrants.

Trump's potential shift comes after a Washington Post-ABC News poll in June showed that 87 percent of Hispanics view the Republican nominee unfavorably.

Here, attitudes toward Trump among Hispanics are similar to that of the country as a whole, said Quincy Jenkins, the director of Hispanic and Latino outreach at Dalton State College. But, he added, the Hispanic students hold complex feelings about the election.

They grew up in Northwest Georgia, surrounded by conservative values. They speak with Southern accents and follow Southeastern Conference football more than Latin American politics. Some didn't even know they were born outside the country until they turned 18.

But other students have lived through the deportation of relatives, Jenkins said. During meetings among Hispanic students and their parents, immigration policies are important.

"If it's not the main topic of conversation," he said, "it's going to come up. It's the elephant in the room. And not the quiet elephant."

David Boyle, who created a bilingual bachelor of social work program at Dalton State and helped write a book on the city's immigration history, said Trump's statements have increased focus on the election among local Hispanics "about 500 percent."

Boyle said waves of immigrants began coming to Dalton in the early 1980s, first to work in poultry plants, then in carpet mills. While business owners say the migration occurred through word of mouth, Boyle said, multiple immigrants claimed to see posters near the U.S.-Mexico border promising good work in Dalton.

The workers - mostly men - at first came alone. But later families joined them. A community grew. They are gaining more political power, Boyle said, but the process has been slow.

While 48 percent of the Dalton population is Hispanic, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, the group only makes up about 16 percent of the 34,000 registered voters in Whitfield County during the March presidential primary, according to the Georgia secretary of state.

"Regardless of whether they're citizens or second- or third-generation Latinos, they feel attacked by the language being used and stereotyping that's been used," Boyle said. "They are responding. And they are acting."

Octavio Perez, 73, a Colombian Realtor who came to Dalton in 1979, said he has not had much communication with other members of the local Hispanic community. He prefers Trump, saying Obama put too many regulations on small business owners.

"Some people don't agree with what Donald has said," Perez told the Times Free Press. "But it's one of those things - the least evil of the two."

Mariela Cruz, however, said she can't support Trump, based on how he has spoken. Cruz moved to Dalton from Mexico when she was 8, and in 2012 she was approved for a work permit under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama administration immigration policy.

"I do not agree with the way Trump has expressed himself of minorities and his views do not represent the majority of Americans since I have always been treated with respect by those around me," Cruz said in an email. "In general, I do not like the way the Republican Party has developed in the last decade."

Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.

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