Alabama
Migrant controversy hits heartland as Alabama council meeting boils over, state officials slam feds' 'mess'
Residents of a small Alabama city were up in arms at the migrant influx during a recent city council hearing that lawmakers suddenly cut short amid the outcry.
Meanwhile, state leaders demanded answers from the feds as the migrants appear to be in the country legally under Temporary Protective Status provisions extended to Haitian nationals by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
In Sylacauga, just south of NASCAR’s Talladega Superspeedway, City Council President Tiffany Nix abruptly curtailed public comment as residents demanded accountability for the at least 50 migrants that appeared in the city.
“We’re done,” Nix responded to resident David Phillips, who had criticized council’s attitude as “entirely unacceptable” during the meeting last week.
“[Haiti is] a failed state – their president (Jovenel Moise) was assassinated in 2021 – there is no way the State Department can vet these individuals,” Phillips said before Nix cut in as another resident called out, “Please let him talk.”
MIGRANT CRISIS ROILS BOSTON AREA AS SCHOOL STANDS FIRM ON RESIDENCY POLICY
Nix then made a motion to adjourn the meeting and ordered the gallery cleared.
“This is our city,” a woman in the gallery said. “Good to know, they don’t want to hear the truth,” another said.
Another resident wondered aloud how local schools will be able to handle the new migrants, noting that financial resources would be needed for children that only speak French-Creole and not English.
Amid the murmuring, Nix could be heard asking, “What would you like us to do?”
Earlier in the meeting, Nix said there is no reason to launch a municipal investigation and that people should not treat others “differently because of how they look.”
State Rep. Benjamin Robbins, who represents the city, wrote a letter Thursday to Mayorkas, demanding a federal response.
“As the secretary of Homeland Security, you are charged with overseeing immigration enforcement and refugee resettlement,” he wrote.
“Recently, my district has seen an influx of Haitian immigrants. You and your agency have failed in your responsibility to notify our community of the relocation of refugees, provide any information to local leaders or answer questions.”
Robbins said the situation has caused “panic and confusion” and left local leaders “helpless.” Robbins said he would demand Congress investigate if DHS does nothing.
Sylacauga Mayor Jim Heigl separately told Alabama’s 1819 News that information the migrants were in his city legally “came out from [Gov. Kay Ivey’s] office and also came from Mike Rogers’ office, [Sen.] Katie Britt’s office and [Sen. Tommy] Tuberville’s office.
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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt/File)
Rogers, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, called the situation in his district “yet another example of the Biden-Harris administration’s moronic immigration policy failures.”
“Those two never cease to amaze me with their total incompetence and outright antagonism toward hardworking Americans. The way to fix this is to re-elect President Trump,” Rogers said.
Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter added his biggest concern is the lack of information from the feds on the migrants already inside the state.
“We have asked repeatedly,” said Ledbetter, R-Rainsville. “Once they are here, communities like Sylacauga and Albertville are left to deal with the disaster. Our schools don’t have the ESL resources to support the immigrant children, housing these people is an issue, crime is an issue, and the federal government has offered zero support whatsoever.”
Tuberville told Fox News Digital the feds are abusing their parole authority, which he said is supposed to be used sparingly and only for humanitarian purposes.
Instead, he said the administration is using it as a tool of “mass amnesty to millions of people.”
“We have no idea who most of these people are,” Tuberville said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the city and was directed to Nix’s email but did not receive a response.
Meanwhile, in Montgomery, state Senate President Pro-Tempore Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said Monday the Biden administration has allowed millions of illegal immigrants to “pour in” and cause a crisis.
“The immigration catastrophe they have … openly incentivized is hitting home right now for Americans across the country, including right here in Alabama,” he said.
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Immigrants line up at a remote U.S. Border Patrol processing center after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 7, 2023, in Lukeville, Ariz. (John Moore/Getty Images)
“Alabama officials are prepared to use the tools at our disposal to clean up the mess and confusion their reckless policies have created,” Reed went on, adding that the crisis in Sylacauga emphasizes the importance of the presidential election.
A spokesperson for Ivey responded to a question about the mayor’s comments by saying her office has not received any facts or communications from the feds or to local officials on the matter.
“Separately though, Alabamians and Americans all over the country are rightfully concerned over the current Biden-Harris pro-illegal immigration policies. No doubt this is a contributing factor to the concerns of people in Sylacauga and other areas,” Gina Maiola said.
“People are on high alert. Gov. Ivey will continue taking action to enforce the law, doing everything in Alabama’s authority to secure the U.S. southern border and protecting our citizens from the harmful effects of illegal immigration.”
DHS did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Alabama
Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama
Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.
The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.
Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).
He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.
More on Richardson
Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:
Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.
Alabama
Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets
Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.
The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.
The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.
Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.
“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”
Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.
The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.
Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.
Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.
Alabama
New Alabama law to set screen time limits for kids in day care, pre-K and kindergarten
The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act was signed on Wednesday, March 4, by Governor Kay Ivey to introduce limits on children’s screen time access in Alabama.
The Act is one of Ivey’s 2026 legislative priorities.
“Video screen access in classrooms can boost learning skills among our young children, but too much screen exposure can also be detrimental, harming critical social and cognitive development,” Ivey said. “The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act ensures our youngest students are provided a healthy balance of screen time and traditional learning in order to protect social and emotional development.”
Under the Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education will be required to work with the Department of Human Resources and the State Department of Education to develop guidelines for screen-based media.
Guidelines will be implemented in early childhood education programs like day care centers, day care homes, night care facilities, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and group day care homes. The Act was sponsored by Representative Jeana Ross and Senator Donnie Chesteen.
“House Bill 78 establishes clear, research-based expectations for how technology is used in early childhood settings,” said Ross. “The goal is not to eliminate technology, but to ensure its use is developmentally appropriate and never replaces the hands-on learning and human interaction young children need most. By setting thoughtful guardrails and aligning classroom practices with the best available research on early brain development, this legislation supports educators, protects the quality of early learning and reinforces our commitment to giving Alabama’s youngest students the strongest possible start.”
A training program will also be created by the Department of Early Childhood Education to create a baseline for the appropriate use of child screentime for teachers and staff members supervising children.
“The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act represents another important step in ensuring Alabama’s youngest children grow and learn in environments that prioritize human interaction, exploration and healthy development,” said Chesteen. “Building on the progress made with last year’s FOCUS Act, this legislation continues our commitment to protecting the most formative years of childhood. I am grateful to Governor Kay Ivey and my colleagues in the Legislature for recognizing the importance of this issue and working together to support Alabama families.”
The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act will become effective on January 1, 2027.
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