Thread: Legal taxis ferry illegal immigrants to work in Georgia

A crackdown in Gainesville means driving without a license can lead to deportation, so many use a 'taxista' — or simply move away.

Reporting from Gainesville, Ga. — Jose Luis Diaz maneuvered his big green-and-white taxi through the predawn darkness, windows shut to the crowing of roosters and the stench of the chicken plants, toward the home of Mateo, an illegal immigrant waiting to be chauffeured to work.

For Mateo -- a stocky, tattooed employee of a tree-trimming service -- the ride was no luxury. It was a necessity.
The New Latino South

The Latino population in the South has grown dramatically over the last decade. This is one in a series of occasional stories chronicling the live of Latinos in a changing region.
Interactive: Changing Latino population in Gainesville
Photos: Robust taxi culture in rural Georgia

More in the series:
Guatemalan man with a U.S. family is threatened with deportation
Fewer hands in the fields

“Buenos dÃ*as,â€

Family and friends bid farewell to those leaving Gainesville, Georgia, on the bus to the Mexico border. It's a daily occurence for illegal immigrants who feel the pressure of Georgia's tough new immigration laws and decide to leave the country on their own. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Those are such sweet words