A Dalton woman is working to raise funds to help a local 19-year-old girl currently under ICE detention.
The GoFundMe created by Hannah Jones has raised $22,000 of its $30k goal.
Jones says the money will be used to fund the immigration attorney and bond for Ximena Arias.
She says the Dalton High School graduate came into the U.S. in 2010 at 4 years old. “She did not qualify for DACA as the program ended the year before her family immigrated,” says the GoFundMe.
Jones says Ximena has babysat for her family for three years.
“Ximena is very important to my family and the community. We are overwhelmed by the positive response we have received,” says Jones. “We have hired an amazing attorney and he hopes to get her out of Stewart detention center as quickly as possible.”
“She’s the sweetest soul,” says Jones. “She loves her family. She is active in her church and is a student at Dalton State College.”
A Meal Train has also been organized for the Arias family. The page says her father was detained by ICE a few weeks before Ximena was.
“Her mother and two younger siblings are now without two family members/incomes,” the page says.
This is a developing story.
