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Some people in the Albertville area began to post their concerns on social media last week about charter buses picking up and dropping off immigrants in the area.
The furor grew loud enough to garner the attention of the Albertville Police Department, which put out a statement simply notifying the public that the private buses had been contracted by a local company to transport workers to and from work.
But the explanation wasn’t good enough, with an explosion of shares and comments that continued the claims linking the buses to illegal immigration.
“This is basically a federal immigration policy that they have forced upon us,” commented Devin Bonds, a Boaz resident according to her Facebook page. “They ‘the feds’ are bringing in Haitens and the state can’t do a thing about it. They can’t say no. They can’t protest. I mean how else are so many of these people from Haiti getting here? You think they bought themselves a ticket from Port au prince airport and just decided Alabama was their new home ??? Remember this November 6th.”
This comment is indicative of many others made about the situation on social media, which then led a far-right media site to run a story on the situation based on the unsubstantiated rumors.
The attention led Pilgrim’s Pride to shine more light on the situation, noting that the buses are being used to transport workers to its expanded Russellville plant.
The City of Albertville released a statement Friday on the situation, noting that the controversy’s eruption during the start of school led to an increase in “hurtful rhetoric.”
“It is deeply unfortunate that as our students returned to school this week, they did so amidst a climate of controversy, baseless accusations, and hurtful rhetoric toward the families of some of their classmates,” city leaders said in the statement. “It is your right to ask questions of your elected officials and hold them accountable and Albertville city leaders will always work to be as transparent and diligent as possible in addressing your concerns, but we will not support or condone any narrative or discourse that seeks to marginalize individuals in our community based on their race or ethnicity.”
State Sen. Wes Kitchens, R-Arab, released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Friday stating that the buses will no longer be used to transport workers.
“Since this issue is not new to Marshall County, Sheriff [Phil] Sims and I had previously arranged a meeting with Texas Board Patrol which will occur in the coming weeks to continue discussions on improving this crisis from the local and state level,” Kitchens added in the statement.
In a letter to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, stating that their policies had turned his district and may others into “border towns” and noted the recent charge against an illegal immigrant of the murder of a lifelong Albertville resident. That statement refers to the recent charge against Armando Juan Sebastian for a DUI that led to the death of Albertville resident Phillip McBay.
Several politicians jumped in to comment on the situation. State Rep. Brock Colvin, R-Albertville, pondered to the far-right media outlet whether some of the Haitian immigrants moving into Albertville—which has not been verified—might be from “cannibal gangs.”
“Haiti is in crumbles, in shambles right now, the country and the government, with literal cannibal gangs,” Colvin said. “I’m wondering how many of them have slipped through and made their way to my hometown.”
