JESUP, Ga. (WSAV) - A photo posted to social media last week by the mayor of Jesup caused a stir in the local community.
The post in question was a photoshopped image of immigration agents detaining popular Hispanic cartoon character Dora the explorer, and the controversial image has many reacting online.
"As the mayor, you're supposed to be a civil servant, and when you have that position of power, you're held at a higher standard," Carisa Ray, a Jesup resident, said. "Even if that's how you feel, you don't post that because you're pushing away a whole group of people."
Jack Heorin, another Jesup resident, said, "It could be dealing with the election from the president, but I honestly don't think he did it to hurt anybody or offend anybody."
In a statement to News 3, Mayor Ralph Hickox said he did not intend for anyone to take his post seriously because he found the photo to be "ridiculous."
"To be clear, I do not support nor agree with deporting children. Period...We are a country of immigrants. Our country should embrace immigration. I do believe it should be legally though, and the process shouldn’t be that hard," Hickox said.
Though, tensions have been high since the Trump administration started its deportation efforts, which inspired a recent protest in Jesup.
"To post that and say lol like it's funny, it's not funny. This is people's lives, and that's a problem," Ray said. "When your kids are coming home crying because their friend is crying that they don't want to go back to Mexico and their friend has never been to Mexico...they wouldn't even know what that looks like…People need to realize people are people."
In his statement, Hickox also said that looking back, he's learned from this controversy.
"In retrospect, especially in my position I should probably either not post at all or elaborate more on my intentions if I do," he said.