Pubdate: Wed, 15 Jan 2003
Source: Daily Citizen, The (Dalton, GA)
Copyright: Daily Citizen 2003
Contact:  http://www.northwestgeorgia.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1929
Author: Charles Oliver

THE EYES OF THE WORLD WILL SOON BE ON DALTON

A production crew from the Spanish-language Telemundo television network 
has been in town for the past two days, looking at how Hispanic immigration 
has affected the area. Correspondent Angie Sandoval is working on two 
stories for the network. The first is part of a series on Hispanic 
immigration to small towns in the United States. Telemundo, based in 
Hialeah, Fla., outside of Miami, did a story in October on immigration to 
small towns in Utah and North Carolina. "We had a lot of positive reaction 
to that. People wrote in to say that they didn't even know there were 
Hispanics in Utah," she said. Telemundo is available not only in the United 
States but in 22 countries in Latin America. "We got responses from many 
different countries on that," she said. Sandoval spent Tuesday morning at 
Dug Gap Elementary School, observing the school's Family Literacy Program, 
which helps the immigrant parents of its students learn English and prepare 
for the general equivalency diploma (GED). Why do immigrants choose to come 
to small towns such as Dalton? "Many of them have previously lived in big 
cities, and they are looking for safer neighborhoods, better schools for 
their children and better-paying jobs," Sandoval said. They typically find 
out about places such as Dalton through word of mouth. "They find out about 
the place from a friend or family member," she said. Sandoval is also 
looking at one of the darker sides to immigration. "We are looking at how 
Mexican drug cartels are expanding their influence in the United States and 
flooding small towns with drugs," she said. Sandoval spoke to local law 
enforcement authorities about how Dalton has been affected. "They've 
definitely seen an increase in drugs and in crimes related to drugs, such 
as theft," she said. Sandoval said that she was surprised when she first 
heard about the increased flow of drugs into small towns such as Dalton. 
"It's been a real eye opener for me," she said.

The story on drug trafficking will run on Jan. 27, and the piece on 
Hispanics in small towns will run on Feb. 12. Charter Communications 
carries Telemundo on channel 77 in Dalton.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart