Posted on 10/25/2012 3:38:21 PM PDT by moonshinner_09
Undocumented immigrants are surviving tougher immigration laws implemented in Georgia and other southern states by utilizing a surprising tool: social media. It has become an instrument to help them navigate the streets and remain undetected by police.
Mario Sevilla, 24, is a construction worker; his day begins at 5 a.m. His five brothers and sisters live in Sonora, Mexico, and they all rely on the money that he can earn and wire back home. Lately, Sevilla has used social media to risk-taking road trips as far away as Tennessee to get to work.
The first thing that I do in the morning is to turn on my cell phone and send out a message to my friends through Facebook. Those who are here legally and have a drivers license are my informants about police presence in different areas so that I can avoid retenes to get to work, explains Sevilla.
Retenes or police checkpoints have increased twofold in heavily Latino populated counties since local officials were given immigration enforcement powers in 2006. Gwinnett and Cobb Counties in Georgia are two of the busiest in the nation for deportations.
Facebook, twitter, google map and others apps are saving the life of undocumented immigrants, as they say. (shutterstock photo) ¨They can stop you just because you look Latino and that would be the end since we cannot apply for driver licenses anymore, explains Sevilla.
(Excerpt) Read more at voxxi.com ...
LEOs have social media, too.
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