DALTON, Ga. – For Sandra Reyes, Georgia was home since she was 9, the place where she graduated from high school and became involved in her community.
And where the reality sank in that she was an illegal immigrant.
“I didn’t realize what it really meant to be undocumented until I was about to graduate from high school,” the 25-year-old said in a telephone interview from Dallas. “So I really never thought I was going to have to leave Dalton.”
She and her husband, Ignacio, 31, left Dalton four months ago in the face of tougher immigration enforcement and high unemployment rates, she said.
“The situation in Dalton is not the most ideal for undocumented immigrants,” said Reyes, who recently graduated from an online college with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. “You never know when you might get stopped and end up being deported.”