As Seen on CNN

Here is the script of a CNN story about immigrants in Dalton, Georgia. Smist used to live in this town, and do a more menial job than any of the immigrants.

"LIKE SO MANY IMMIGRANTS...

QUICK NATS: Miguel with baby?

MIGUEL AND LETICIA QUINONES LEFT MEXICO FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM.

THEY FOUND IT... IN DALTON, GEORGIA.

SOT: Miguel Quinones/
Alina: How has Dalton treated you?
Miguel: Perfect, good, I like it.

THEY WERE DRAWN TO DALTON BY JOBS IN THE CARPET INDUSTRY...

QUICK NATS: carpet mill

KNOWN AS "THE CARPET CAPITAL OF THE WORLD"...

("Welcome to Dalton" sign)
DALTON WELCOMES IMMIGRAnTs.

MOST OF THE WORKERS IN THE MILLS ARE LATINO..

(show spanish business signs)
THE SIGNS OF CHANGE HERE... ARE EVERYWHERE.

STANDUP: Alina Cho/Dalton, Ga
"The racial shift in Dalton has been dramatic. Between 1990 and 2000, the city's demographic changed, from 80 percent white to 40 percent latino.
Up from 6% latino in the early nineties......

Today, it's possible, latinos outnumber whites, but it's impossible to know because so many of them are here illegally."

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS... LIKE THE QUINONES FAMILY...

who CROSSED THE BORDER SIX YEARS AGO.

SOT: Leticia Quinones/Illegal Immigrant
NATS: "Por que cruce..."
"Why did I cross, I crossed because you can make a better living here."

HERE... MIGUEL AND LETICIA COLLECTIVELY EARN 700 DOLLARS A WEEK... FAR MORE THAN THEY WOULD IN THEIR NATIVE MEXICO.

IN DALTON... THEY DON'T HAVE TO GO FAR TO FIND THE COMFORTS OF HOME...

NAT---Class

AND A GOOD EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN.

DALTON HAS AN INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY... WHERE KIDS COME TO LEARN ENGLISH BEFORE MOVING ON TO MAINSTREAM SCHOOLS.

100 PERCENT OF INCOMING STUDENTS, GRADES 4 THROUGH 12, ARE LATINO.

DALTON MAYOR RAY ELROD SAYS THE CITY HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO EDUCATE ALL CHILDREN... REGARDLESS OF IMMIGRATION STATUS.

HE CALLS THE LATINO RESIDENTS... GOOD NEIGHBORS.

SOT: Ray Elrod/Dalton Mayor
"God fearing, hard working, and they are beginning to be community minded."

DALTON -- A CITY OF 30-THOUSAND -- HAS 300 LATINO-OWNED BUSINESSES.

20 YEARS AGO, THERE WERE 2.

A DECADE AGO... FOOTBALL WAS THE SPORT OF CHOICE...

TODAY...

QUICK NATS: soccer field

IT'S SOCCER.

THERE'S A SPANISH RADIO STATION...

QUICK NATS:

AND TWO SPANISH-LANGUAGE NEWSPAPERS.

BUT NOT EVERYONE IS EMBRACING THE CHANGE...

RON CHASTAIN... WHO'S LIVED IN DALTON HIS ENTIRE LIFE... SAYS THE LATINO COMMUNITY HAS BROUGHT NOTHING BUT GANGS AND GRAFFITI...

HE SAYS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE STEALING JOBS...

SOT: Ron Chastain/
"If you're new and desperate in this country, you're going to work for whatever amount."

THE MAYOR SAYS THERE ARE ENOUGH JOBS FOR EVERYONE --

DALTON'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS AMONG THE LOWEST IN THE STATE...

THE CARPET COMPANIES SAY THEY MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO VERIFY LEGAL STATUS...

BUT ADMIT... THERE ARE UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS IN THE MILLS.

NATS:
"We are the world..."

IN THE SCHOOLS...

THERE'S A FEELING OF UNITY.

AND IN THE QUINONES HOME... MIGUEL AND LETICIA WORRY ABOUT BEING DEPORTED... they WANT TO BEcome U-S CITIZENS.

THERE IS ONE U-S CITIZEN IN THE FAMILY ALREADY...

2-YEAR-OLD ALESSANDRA WAS BORN HERE.

ANOTHER WAY... THIS SLEEPY MILL TOWN... IS TURNING INTO A MELTING POT.

ALINA CHO, CNN, DALTON, GEORGIA.