Fairhope officials: Misinformation fueling panic over unfounded migrant influx

Fairhope city officials repeatedly told dozens of people who showed up to the council meeting on Monday that social media misinformation fueled a week-long panic over an unproven account that thousands of immigrants were arriving to Baldwin County.

But despite the efforts from elected officials, most of the people who spoke up during a lively council meeting didn't want to hear what elected officials had to say. With immigration policy animating the 2024 presidential race as a top Republican concern, residents in this mostly conservative area of Alabama raised questions about the ability of Fairhope to withstand an influx of migrants, if it were to ever happen.

At least one resident compared the situation to worse than a "hurricane." Other residents threatened to vote out the council during the 2025 city elections.

Elected officials, in recent days, said they have uncovered no evidence to support rumors that an influx of Haitian refugees or a large arrival of legal or undocumented immigrants were coming to coastal Alabama as part of a federal resettlement program.

"I just wanted people to know we have not received notifications related to this," Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan said after a meeting in which a group of mostly conservative speakers blasted city officials on a litany of other hotbed conservative issues such as the content of books displayed at the city's library, a drag queen show that occurred at the city's auditorium in June, and future LGBTQ-themed events in the city.

"If (an influx of migrants) did come here, we'd enforce all local laws," Sullivan said. "We don't make federal law or federal policy, but we continue to work with the federal delegation, the state delegate, and the county to ensure that we are all working together and whatever comes out way, we can handle it."

She added, "I sympathize with what they are saying. But we have not been notified (the federal government) is sending anyone here."

Ukraine support The ire of some of the people who spoke during the council meeting focused in on Councilman Corey Martin, the city's lone Black politician.

Martin, in 2022, signed a letter of support for the United States Refugees Admissions Program (USRAP) during the onset of the War in Ukraine. That program, started under the Reagan administration, accepts referrals for refugees determined to be particularly vulnerable and in need of the protection provided by third-country resettlement.

Martin said he did not sign the letter this year, adding "No sir, that's in God's name."

A letter supporting USRAP posted on the website welcomingrefugees2025.org was reportedly sent to President Joe Biden on Sept. 12, and it included Martin's name as one of three Alabama signees. The other two are Democratic State Reps. Thomas Jackson of Thomasville and Travis Hendrix of Birmingham.

"I guess it's a political hotbed right now," Martin said. "It's unfortunate when you're in politics, it happens. You take it with a grain of salt and pray for everyone and continue to love each other and not divide."

Martin said he signed the letter in 2022, because of reports at the time about women and children being displaced as the Russians invaded Ukraine.

"I don't support anything illegal," Martin said. "But a program that helps people survive persecution and oppression? They invented it 45 years ago. It's bipartisan. It's a legal process."

Council members react Other council members said they had received phone calls and text messages upset over the Martin's support for USRAP in 2022 and who believed it could lead to an influx of immigrants and into an already fast-growing city.

Councilman Jack Burrell said that after talking to Martin, he learned the councilman signed an email that was "generic" in nature, and which asked for support of women and children displaced in Ukraine.

"It didn't say in Fairhope, Alabama," Burrell said. "It didn't say where. It just said, 'do you support it?' Well, who doesn't support women and children displaced in the Ukraine war? He cares about people. He cares about women and children. That's what he signed on."

Burrell said the program was turned into something "that it wasn't" and Martin had no control over it.

"There is not a big cover up, there never was a hidden agenda and we are not coming back in a week for a vote," Burrell said.

Burrell said he was surprised to learn this week that people were suspecting the council of supporting a mass migration of immigrants to Fairhope.

"That's just patently false," he said. "We've never even had a conversation here. I've never sat down with the mayor and had that conversation. I appreciate the people who called and text and emailed. We just simply have not supported that. I heard there was a 'resolution on tonight's agenda' to invite them into the city. We didn't get scared because you were all showing up tonight and just yank it off the agenda. It just wasn't happening."

Councilman Jimmy Conyers agreed, saying the story spread on social media and eventually built up into something that had gotten big.

"We haven't heard anything from a reliable or a credible source," Conyers said. "Anytime the source is, 'I heard someone' or 'I read somewhere,' the chances are there isn't much validity to it. If we had any kind of knowledge (of an immigrant influx), we'd push back on it. We're not ready to accommodate 1,000 people in our town. We are not a sanctuary city."

Conyers said the rumors had almost become comical.

"The last number I heard was 30,000 refugees," he said. "It went from 1,000 to 15,000 to 30,000. It's almost too much to hold down and not smile about. I understand it's a serious issue. But it's nothing credible."

Councilman Kevin Boone said people won't go very far in getting a straight story by reading something on "social media or the Internet without checking things out."

"You won't go far believing this junk," Boone said.

Some of the attendees took exception to the responses from elected officials, arguing that council members were "gaslighting" them.

"Don't' make fun of people who are here," said Fairhope resident John Cutwright, who cited concerns people have about an influx of Haitian immigrants into cities like Fairhope like what is going on in Springfield, Ohio, where thousands of Haitian migrants have settled in recent years to take a variety of jobs.

"You know what is going on in (Springfield) Ohio," he said. "We are here, and I think most of us, we don't want that to happen here."

A panic over Haitian immigrants has generated media coverage in recent weeks ever since GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, during the Sept. 10 presidential debate, claimed the immigrants in Ohio were eating dogs and cats.

Republican Vice President candidate J.D. Vance, a senator from Ohio, has also amplified the rumor despite it being debunked by local officials.

In Alabama, the concerns have resonated in mostly conservative cities in the state even as local officials – like in Fairhope – debunked social media banter about an influx of Haitian migrants.

In the Talladega County city of Sylacauga, officials estimate there are as many as 60 Haitians in the city - nowhere near the 15,000 now estimated to live in Springfield, Ohio, a mostly white, blue-collar city of about 59,000.

The 2023 Census puts Sylacauga's total population at a little more than 12,000; about 64% of its residents are white.

Fairhope has a population close to 25,000 residents , up nearly 12% from the 2020 U.S. Census. It is a city that is 90% white, 4.5% Black, and 4.6% Hispanic.

Despite the rapid growth, the demographics haven't changed much. The white population, in 2010, was at 91%, according to the Census.

Sullivan, the city's mayor, said she was uncertain if there were any Haitians who lived in the city.

Some argued that the Baldwin County School System had seen an influx of English Language Learners - or those with limited English proficiency.

"Our schools really cannot take on anymore students," said Rebecca Watson, a representative with Moms for Liberty.

Immigration worries are spreading to other mostly rural or conservative areas of the state. A meeting at a Baptist Church last week in Enterprise - barred to the media, except for a right-wing outlet - drew a large crowd with similar worries about an immigration influx.

Books, Drag queens The concerns over immigration issues were only part of the overall criticism people directed at Fairhope officials.

Brian Dasinger, of the Faith Family Freedom Coalition and who led efforts earlier this year to have books removed from the young adult sections of the Fairhope Library to the adult sections, argued that the city was supportive of controversial topics that are typically backed by Democratic politicians such as a drag queen brunch that occurred at the Fairhope Civic Center in June.

"Last I saw, each and everyone one of you had a 'R' next to your name," Dasinger said, then threatening to have someone oppose each of the council members during next year's city elections with candidates that "encompass Christian conservative values."

"We've been here fighting books, drag brunches, and all of the stuff going on and all of a sudden, we hit a hot button," said Debbie Greengard. "You have awaken a sleeping giant. If you don't start doing your job, you'll be out next year."

Not every speaker was critical of the council. According to Dev Wakeley, the people who showed up to the meeting to voice displeasure over immigrants were more of the concern.

"It's all about a political movement," Wakeley said, calling the people at the council meeting the "Klan in slacks," a reference to the far-right Ku Klux Klan white supremacist movement of decades ago.

"They are here to take over," Wakeley said. "They are here to gain domination over Fairhope, the United States and the world no matter who they hurt. They are a bundle full of rage."

Martin's wife, Monetia, was the last person to speak at the meeting. She defended her husband by saying that he was the victim of a "fear factor thing going on" on via unverified sources on social media.

"I want to say you are all doing a very good job," Martin said, referring to the Fairhope council, and then turning to the audience. "And if you think you can do a better job or have people in line who you think can do a better job, bring them on."