Just like other red states across the nation, and without our invitation, Alabama has become a border state.

Look around Arab. Sylacauga. Albertville. Prattville. Even Muscle Shoals is seeing an influx of buses full of people unknown to residents, allegedly here for work.

As a former Californian who escaped that state, I can tell you now: THIS does not portend any good. It’s a drip-drip-drip erosion of illegal aliens, first under the guise of “work,” followed by the erosion of laws, followed by an entire community being overtaken.

This is how you destroy a state, and ultimately, a country.

San Diego, Calif., is right on the southern border with Mexico. A former red county and city, its citizens are now overrun by illegal aliens since the embrace of the sanctuary state law and the subsequent progressive takeover in both state and local government. These illegals come on buses and boats, and are welcomed with open arms to raid the local coffers. Meanwhile the native-born citizens suffer.

Aside from the murders, rapes and crimes we hear about coming from this area, the most recent scary incident involved a band of illegals who tried to board school buses with children. Straight Arrow News reported:

A California community just outside of San Diego is on high alert after two reported incidents involving migrants trying to board school buses this week. Witnesses said that around 20 migrants tried to get on a school bus carrying elementary students on Wednesday morning, Aug. 28.

The bus driver and parents were able to step in and keep the group off of the bus, according to those present at the time of the incident.

‘These were adults,’ Nicole Cardinale, a parent whose 8-year-old son told her of the encounter. ‘They weren’t kids. [He] said that “they had backpacks on, mom, and they tried to get on our bus,” and he says, “and there was a lot of them.”’

A similar incident happened the day before when three illegal aliens attempted to stop and board a bus of middle school students while it was on the freeway. If incidents like this begin to occur here in Alabama, there will no longer be safe options or havens for our children.

The wide-open southern border has also gravely impacted central Colorado. Residents of Aurora, a suburb of Denver, suffer from the overflow of illegals out of that latter sanctuary city. It is reported that illegal immigrant gangs from Venezuela have overtaken three apartment complexes in the Aurora area, driving out the management and extorting rent, bringing in drugs and human trafficking. The residents, many of them elderly, can do little about it.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman spoke to a News Nation correspondent about the challenge of cleaning the criminal element out, because once the genie is out of the bottle, there is little chance of getting him back in.

“We can’t afford to surrender any part of the city … to any criminal element,” Coffman said, but it’s already too late. “We inherited a problem that is not ours,” Coffman continued.

At least this mayor is taking the crisis seriously and not trying to avoid appearing racist or bigoted. Coffman clearly sees the handwriting on the wall, but Sylacauga, Ala., Mayor Jim Heigl is sticking his head in the sand. 1819 News’ Erica Thomas took Heigl’s statement on the illegal influx plaguing this small Alabama city:

‘As with most tight-knit small towns, new faces out among our stores and restaurants are easily identifiable,’ he outlined. ‘Sylacauga has recently had an influx of legal immigrants come into the area. Employment was the primary draw for these individuals when obtaining their visas for legal immigration to the area.’

Here is where the slippery slope develops. They’re only here for work. They just want opportunity. Don’t be racist.

‘As you go about your regular routines of living in Sylacauga, please be sure to extend our small-town hospitality to these new faces,’ Heigl continued. ‘I hope that during the duration of their visas, Sylacauga leaves a positive impression for these immigrants with the high level of care and spirit of community that we are known for.’

Are Sylacauga’s citizens really falling for this? We will see when the residents of nearby Pell City or Anniston start complaining about a spike in crime or a drain on local resources in a few months.

Marshall County’s response to the busloads of Haitians coming to work at the poultry plant Pilgrim’s Pride, as well as the influx of illegal aliens into Cullman, Athens and Albertville, is more vigilant, 1819 News’ Daniel Taylor reports.

‘I get it. I get people’s frustrations. Man, I’m as frustrated as anybody,’ [Boaz City Councilman Matt] Brannon said. ‘I got three children in the school system over here that’s busting at the seams because we can’t support hardly what we already got… I think people are tired of it. They’re fed up.

…

Colvin said he’s seen concern about immigration in Albertville ‘skyrocket’ over the past week.

…

Colvin said he was concerned that some bad actors may move into the area by taking advantage of the lax immigration laws.

Perhaps our attitudes would be different if we had a federal government that was doing its utmost to close the border.

It would also be different if this same government acknowledged the criminal element that is allowed to invade our safe spaces. Here in Alabama we have had the vicious assault on a teenage girl in Prattville, the rape of a 15-year-old in Daleville, an illegal alien human trafficker arrested in Argo, to name a few. This coupled with the murders of Georgia’s Laken Riley, Texas’ Jocelyn Nungaray, and Maryland’s Rachel Morin at the hand of criminal illegals because of lax border policies. Instead, we citizens are expected to manage a new normal of crime, drugs and harm to women and children that we did not solicit, and for which we did not ask.

If our elected officials and law enforcement do not continue to hold the line, we are on a rapid road to being Californicated.

Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, As the Girl Turns, is an investigative journalist, author, opinion analyst, and contributor to 1819 News, Redstate, and other publications. Jennifer writes on Politics and Pop Culture, with occasional detours into Reinvention, Yoga, and Food. You can read more about Jennifer's world at her As the Girl Turns website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com. 

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