"The invasion that wasn't," wrote Elaina Plott Calabro, a Tuscaloosa native and Yale graduate, as the headline for her nearly 4,000-word piece for The Atlantic on the news of Haitian resettlement in Sylacauga.
Last month, residents of Talladega County expressed their frustrations and concerns that an influx was underway.
More than a month later, the mass resettlement has yet to come to be. However, Plott Calabro did find that there was at least an effort to recruit Haitians to Sylacauga.
According to The Atlantic piece, Fride Syrus, a 46-year-old Haitian migrant, admitted to recruiting fellow Haitian migrants from Florida "after a staffing agency asked if he knew of more people looking for work."
Syrus told Plott Calabro that 12 to 15 migrants lived "in the two-bedroom space" on air mattresses.
However, she downplayed the "invasion" monicker, calling the Haitian presence in Sylacauga "unremarkable."
Read more at The Atlantic
Jeff Poor is the editor in chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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