Macon residents reacting to fear of immigration crackdowns. ‘They’d just rather stay at home’

President Donald Trump administration’s hardline stance on increasing aggressive enforcement against undocumented immigrants has left families in Middle George and across the country fearful of deportation.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported Saturday over 860 immigrant arrests and over 620 detainments. Some immigration raids have taken place in Georgia, and rumors have even surfaced online of ICE sightings in Middle Georgia.

Libertad Aranza, a Spanish lecturer at Mercer University, said some locals are grappling with threats of deportation. This has led to a noticeable drop in community involvement at a local Hispanic community center that provides free services, stemming from fear of running into ICE agents, she said.

“People don’t want to continue their classes because they don’t want to go there in case something happens,” Aranza said, highlighting that fear escalates in communities when people don’t know how to filter information they hear or see in the media.

“People don’t even know whether it’s true or not (if ICE is in the area). They’d just rather stay at home,” she said.

The Rev. Ben Wells of St. Francis Episcopal Church emphasized that although the Latino population in Macon-Bibb may appear less visible than in larger cities such as Atlanta, they are indeed present in the county, and the threats of deportation are impacting them, including youths.

Wells recalled a recent conversation he had with an elementary school teacher in the Bibb County School District, who shared a touching incident where a student of immigrant background said farewell to everyone, emphasizing the emotional toll brought on by Trump’s policies.

“(The student’s) a citizen. His siblings are citizens. One of his parents is not a citizen, but because they are afraid of getting separated, [the family is] self-deporting and going back to Central America,” Wells said before sighing deeply. “I find it extremely sad that we put people in that position, and I just don’t think that’s right.”

“Being forced to move, out of fear, from one culture that you grew up in to a culture you don’t know anything about would certainly have a deleterious effect,” he added.

Bibb County Schools sent a letter Tuesday to families, reminding them of student data protection laws amid ICE policy changes, specifically the allowance for officials to carry out arrests at schools and other formerly protected spaces.

The message intended to provide comfort in contrast to the fear propagated by national news stories.

Some local leaders said they wished not to speak on this subject due to the amount of fear running through Middle Georgia Latino communities.

Amplifying immigrants’ voices

Aranza and Katherine Roseau, another Mercer professor, currently teach advanced Spanish and French courses on immigrant and refugee experiences in local Haitian and Hispanic communities.

“It was just a coincidence with the timeline of the politics going on,” Aranza said. She noted that the two have collaborated on similar projects in the past, driven by a lack of curriculum focusing solely on Francophone and Hispanic migration to the United States.

In the separate classes, students learn about the social and political issues immigrants in the county face, as well as how displacement and integration impact identity.

The students also conduct oral history research on the immigrant communities. Aranza and Roseau said their goal is to publish the collected information online as open educational resources.

Aranza noted she has recently encountered difficulty in finding people willing to be interviewed due to safety concerns.

Roseau, an associate professor of French, emphasized the significance of these courses, stating they play a vital role in amplifying the voices of individuals experiencing migration while humanizing their narratives beyond mere immigrant status.

“We started it under a different (presidential) administration, and we’re going to continue it under this administration,” Roseau said. “I think (the classes) are even more important now that hate for certain groups like migrants is acceptable and condoned by the president of the United States.”

Roseau added that the courses also give students the tools to continue to advocate for other people’s rights and the idea of “just being respected on a very basic level.”

Students are educated on different terminology and what it means to be a migrant, an immigrant, a refugee and an asylum-seeker. Roseau also noted that these definitions are not exclusive to Latino communities.

The Telegraph contacted Mercer University to find out whether any proactive steps would be implemented regarding ICE authorities on campus, as well as the availability of resources to aid immigrant students.

Mercer spokesperson Jennifer Fairfield said the university will not comment on the issue

Wells said although there is a small Spanish-speaking population in his congregation, he said the Episcopal doctrine emphasizes expressing mercy and compassion to everyone.

“The huge majority of people that have entered this county from Mexico and Central America are not criminals,” Wells said. “These are people, and they’re not objects.”

This story was originally published February 2, 2025 at 6:00 AM.