Coffee County residents are planning a community meeting next Thursday to address the growing number of Haitian migrants moving into the area.
Much like other cities in Alabama, Clint Grantham, a candidate for Coffee County District 1 Commissioner, said Coffee County has been dealing with issues brought on by recent mass migration, including increased city code violations, violence and theft.
He and other residents organized next week's meeting, which will be held at Open Door Baptist Church in Enterprise at 6:30 p.m. Jay Palmer, a consultant and former immigration advisor to the Trump administration, is scheduled to speak.
"We're having the meeting because we can't ignore what is obvious any longer," Grantham told 1819 News. "...The purpose of acting now is that we have no idea what's going to happen with the presidential election on November 5. We don't know who we're going to get for president. Regardless of who we get for president, this situation is already at a point to where it's dangerous."
Grantham invited each of the county's federal, state, and local officials to attend the meeting, which he said would be a friendly, informative event for people to voice their concerns and personal stories without fear or blame.
"The people we're asking to come to this meeting did not create the problem, whether that's [U.S. Sens.] Katie Britt, or Tommy Tuberville or [U.S. Rep.] Barry Moore all the way down to a local city councilman… It's not about bashing them over the head with a Kamala Harris border policy," he said. "It's a friendly meeting, not meant to blame any of them for this problem."
Palmer agreed, saying, "My purpose of the meeting is to educate the community of what is happening. I would like to thank Senator Britt, Tuberville, U.S. Rep Moore and state Rep. Ben Robbins for their undying support. This is not to bash the Haitian community but to come up with a plan of how to address these issues. These people are here. They've been trafficked and their benefits have been stolen by sponsors. The communities have to be proactive."
Grantham said the meeting also won't be about "demonizing" the migrants who came to America seeking a better life.
"This is not about persecuting people who are fleeing a bad situation. This is about the fact that we can not and have not vetted any of these people, and there clearly is a criminal element amongst them."
Grantham referenced a knife fight that broke out at one of the local distribution companies and an incident where a Haitian man allegedly broke into a home in Enterprise and stole an AR-15, which he was later seen carrying down a busy road. Residents have also reported items being stolen from their yards, Grantham said, adding that some instances may be due to cultural differences.
"In many developing countries, if you want something, you have it nailed down. And if you don't have it nailed down, that means you don't want it," he explained. "So the idea that they're taking stuff that's in somebody's flower bed by their mailbox is not surprising. The fact that they may be killing house cats or ducks at the city pond — to us, the duck as the city pond is a community pet; in a developing nation, that's protein."
In Elba, a homeowner had to remove their bushes after discovering people were using it as an impromptu campsite. That happened in the same neighborhood where a group of 15 Haitian men and one young girl reportedly lived in one house, Grantham said, adding that overcrowded houses with 12-18 migrant occupants were also reported in New Brockton.
"Enough static was made about that that they've moved on. We don't know where that group of Haitians went. This is all on the same street where people had to cut down their azalea bushes because people were living in their azalea bushes."
Grantham said the residents who shared these and other accounts with him are "terrified" of being called a racist or losing their job if they go public with their concerns.
He hopes the meeting next week will inspire those people to tell their stories so something can be done. Regardless, he said local workers are likely to lose their jobs to imported cheap labor.
"You're in peril now, and you'll be in even more peril if some people don't start talking," he said.
Granthan said several of the human resources departments at local companies told him that calls from outside staffing agencies trying to place workers have "skyrocketed" within the last three months. This is in line with what an anonymous "whistleblower" told him, that roughly 600 Hispanic chicken plant workers are soon to be laid off and replaced by Haitian migrants.
"That is going to create two groups of people who are not indigenous to the country, who don't speak that language well, who don't understand our system of safety nets well," he said. "They're going to be competing for somewhere to live, for jobs and for food… Hundreds of people on each side who are directly competing for sustenance with one another. That cannot end well."
Grantham said these issues won't be solved next Thursday, but he hopes to devise a 30-day plan and a longer-term plan defining what steps need to be taken to resolve many of them.
"No county the size of Coffee County can absorb this number of migrants who speak a very obscure language, who have customs which are not aligned with ours," he said. "We can't absorb this many people at this rate, and we've got to do something."
Editor's note: This article has been updated with a quote for Jay Palmer, and to make a correction by removing Matt Chancey as a scheduled speaker. Clint Grantham indicated to 1819 News that Chancey would speak briefly at the meeting, but Chancey has since clarified that he would not be speaking.
To connect with the story's author or comment, email daniel.taylor@1819news.com or find him on Twitter and Facebook.
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