My name is Celsa Allende Stallworth, and I am proud to be a resident of Wedowee in Randolph County—a small town where Friday night lights bring tired parents together to cheer on our kids, where peewee football keeps us sweating in the heat and shivering in the cold, and where we pick up the local newspaper and feel joy or sorrow—because we know the names in the headlines.
Our community is built on togetherness. When a neighbor is struggling, we step up. We feed kids after games, invite teens to church events, and look out for one another. That’s why I chose to raise my children here—because in Wedowee, community means showing up for each other.
But now, I find myself asking: Why are politicians, who have never set foot in our town, passing laws that try to break this community apart? Laws like HB 7, SB 53, SB 55, SB 63, and SB 77 criminalize something as simple as offering a ride home to my daughter’s friend after practice. How am I supposed to know their immigration status? Should I ask every child before they step into my car?
What about church trips? When we drive kids across state lines for an event, are we supposed to separate them based on their paperwork? Should permission slips now include immigration status? What kind of message does that send to our youth? That some of them are less deserving of community, of experiences, of belonging?
These laws are not about safety. They are about fear. They force us to judge our neighbors, our friends, and our own children’s classmates. They create division in places where we have always chosen unity.
So, I ask you, Representative Bob Fincher and Senator Randy Price:
- Why are you voting for laws that force us to turn our backs on each other?
- Why are you criminalizing kindness?
- Why are you attacking the very fabric of our community—the relationships and trust that hold us together?
We will not be divided. Not by fear, not by politics, and certainly not by laws that punish us for being neighbors. I call on you today—stand with our community, not against it.
Reject HB 7, SB 53, SB 55, SB 63, SB 77, and any law that tries to criminalize compassion. Listen to us, the people who actually live here. Come sit with us, talk to us, and see that what makes our town strong is how we come together, not how we are forced apart.