State Rep. Jennifer Fidler (R-Silverhill) is attempting to find details about a federal program bringing migrants to Alabama.
The Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan (CHNV) program allows up to 30,000 migrants a month to come to the United States for work.
The CHNV program, created by an executive order of the Biden-Harris administration, has been plagued by criminal allegations and fraud. Fidler said it is being used to fill staffing shortages nationwide. In Alabama, she said those jobs are mostly in the poultry industry.
Fidler said she confirmed with immigration whistleblower Jay Palmer that plans to bring 1,000 Haitians to Baldwin and Mobile Counties in October were being made. However, she has been unable to find a second source to confirm those plans.
Fidler said she has been told no one is notified when program participants enter a community. She has searched websites and reached out to federal officials.
“My staff has spent a lot of valuable time in the office trying to track that down and just no one answers the phone,” Fidler said.
Her office also contacted the Haitian American Association of Alabama but did not receive a reply. The association’s president, Yolene Barreau, told 1819 News she was not doing interviews because she needed to gather more information.
“If we could just have somebody we could talk to and let us know what's happening we could at least inform our folks,” said Fidler. “I think that's what instills the idea that we don't know and instills the concern.”
“It really instills that fear of what's happening,” she continued. “We're going to have folks just dumped on the communities like we've seen in other areas of the state and we've heard about. “It may not be as bad as some of the folks have said, but it's definitely happening.”
Since coming forward with the little information she does have, Fidler said those who moved to Baldwin County from other states have been the most concerning.
“The ones that have moved here from California, from Washington; I've probably talked to five that have relocated here because of whatever program or some immigration issues that really changed their community and they weren't good things,” Fidler told 1819 News. “So, they've moved and the people that have moved ended up in this utopia that they heard about on a video or some sort of podcast, but they heard about Fairhope and wanted to get away.”
“They had an appreciation for conservative values and just getting away from whatever they were experiencing and these people moved from their hometowns,” she added. “They had been there for generations and they left because of the things they saw happening in their area.”
Fidler said she is thankful Alabama’s federal delegation sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers.
Lieutenant Gov. Will Ainsworth is calling for an end to the CHNV Parole Program and said he would reject federal dollars encouraging resettlement in Alabama.
“The different things that the state has done to try to figure this out to no avail,” Fidler said. “We can't dismiss it and we can't say it's true or not true. We just were still trying to figure it out.”
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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