Small-Town Resistance Helped to Seal Defeat

Billy Ray Smith and his wife, Uraina, of Gainesville, Ga., said they moved out of their subdivision after it was "taken over" by Mexicans. (By N.c. Aizenman -- The Washington Post)

"Most of [the Mexicans] don't want to come here. They just need to eat," he said later. "I think we're all God's children, created in his image. . . . And I would hope hearts don't grow to a point where they are so hardened about another human being."

Still, the dominant theme of conversation around the tables was of a town being inexorably deteriorated by illegal immigration.

Martha Hemphill, 67, a retired hospital administrator, talked about how she is afraid to go to the malls after 8 p.m.

Charles Slay, 73, described how, on a recent visit to the emergency room at the city's main medical center, he was incensed to find it filled with Mexicans, whom he presumed were seeking non-emergency care because they lacked health insurance.

"You should've seen how I had to holler to get the nurse's attention," he said.

Uraina Smith, 61, and her husband, Billy Ray Smith, 66, said they were forced to sell their home in a pretty subdivision of Colonial and ranch houses called Willow Ridge because it was "taken over" by Mexicans who parked on the grass, jumped into the communal pool in their jeans shorts and crammed multiple families into the same house.

"It used to be a real nice area. Now it's a slum," said Billy Ray, with a sigh.

Although their complaints were not new, until recently few had done more than gripe to one another. Most said they were unaware when Congress considered a similar legalization plan last year. But this time around, the television and talk-radio personalities many favor here -- Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Gainesville's own Martha Zoller -- have put the issue on the front burner.

Crawford said he decided to get in touch with his senators because, "Everyone was saying you need to let them know how you feel about this right now."