Summary

Taibbi was in Gainesville, Georgia, riding in the front passenger seat of a large taxi. The driver was named Jose. He was able to drive because he had a license. Another passenger, Alma, was undocumented and related that she got a ticket for driving without a license. Jose was surprised that she wasn’t deported. Gainesville has a population of 34,000 and all eight taxi cab companies are owned by Latinos. It recalled to Taibbi the private taxi services that Martin Luther King, Jr., and his followers established in Montgomery in 1955. The taxi services were established so that African Americans could avoid the segregated bus system.

The Latino-owned cab companies in Gainesville mimicked the MLK private taxi services so that Latinos would avoid punitive immigration laws. In this small city, all law enforcement officers were given the authority to arrest undocumented...