Governor Kay Ivey led a letter, along with 24 other governors, to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, demanding answers on the controversial Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) asylum program that has sent ripples through the state and nation.
In recent months, residents across the state have appealed to state and local leaders, expressing concern over the influx of specifically Haitian migrants coming into their communities.
The migrants initially showed up in local communities without any explanation. State lawmakers and those in the executive branch to a one claimed not to have been informed about the influx, where the migrants came from, and who sent them to the state.
Since then, the operating consensus has been that most migrants are legally in the United States through the CHNV program, which provides "safe and orderly pathways to the United States" for tens of thousands of nationals from the applicable countries. According to federal data, over half a million are in the country through the CHNV program.
In the joint letter, the Republican governors expressed concern over the effect the influx has had on communities and claimed the unannounced placement of migrants in unsuspecting communities has "sowed mistrust and fear among the public."
CHNV Letter by Craig Monger on Scribd
"The impact of this 'parole' program has been the sudden influx of foreign nationals throughout our states and communities," the letter reads. "The unexplainable lack of any communication from your Administration over arrival times, duration of residency, legal status, and location of these 'parolees' has created considerable confusion and alarm among local officials and the general public. In the absence of direction from DHS, law enforcement and municipal leaders have often been left to rely upon news reports and social media posts to determine size and location of incoming migrant populations in order to assess what impact they may have on already limited government services including local public schools."
"The apparent dumping of migrants into our cities and small towns with no advance notice has not only sowed mistrust and fear among the public, but it has also placed the migrants themselves at potential of physical harm. After being met with understandable skepticism from the communities in which they are now living, migrants have become fearful to interact with the public. This isolation has created a ripe environment for their exploitation and abuse," the letter adds.
CHNV parolees are supposed to have supporters, often called sponsors, in the United States. Much has been alleged about the migrants' sponsors, accusing them of profiting off of bringing in the migrants without meeting their needs or actually supporting them once the migrants land on U.S. soil. The CHNV program was briefly paused in August after massive fraud was discovered in the supporter process but was resumed shortly after that.
Additionally, state and federal lawmakers have accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of not properly vetting migrants before they enter the United States.
The governors, in their joint letter, are seeking clarification from the DHS on how it monitors sponsors and migrants, as well as the location and status of migrants placed in their states.
"As chief executives of our states directly responsible for the safety of our citizens and those who reside within our borders, we require a full accounting from the Biden-Harris Administration and DHS of the location and legal status of the parolee populations in our states," the letter continues. "We further require information about the "robust security vetting" DHS claims to have undertaken on each parolee, and we ask for the names and locations of the sponsors who have been granted guardianship over the parolees. We also ask what system DHS has in place to monitor migrants and their sponsors and what assistance DHS is providing migrants."
"Due to the Biden-Harris Administration's CHNV program's policy of placing hundreds of thousands of migrants in our states, and potentially in need of state and local services, our states have unwittingly been placed a support role without our consent, any advance notice or resources. Accordingly, we request your administration furnish our states complete information about the location and status of migrants being directed to our communities."
Editor's Note: An earlier version of the story said she "joined" a letter, but according to an Ivey spokeswoman, she had "spearheaded" the effort.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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