An quick ejection from a recent city council meeting in Sylacauga, Alabama, happened after some people asked about the rise in illegal aliens moving into the area.
About 20 minutes into last week’s meeting, three people from the area raised worries about Haitian nationals coming to the city, and Sylacauga City Council President Tiffany Nix called an end to the meeting.
“They are not legal U.S. citizens, but you treat them like they are.”
“How were they screened?” asked the first neighbor.
“Was everyone checked out? Where can I find them?” She went on. “They say they have work visas, but the visas show that the company they work for isn’t like this business we have here.”
“Who is in charge of keeping an eye on this? What knowledge can you share with me about this? “I’m just worried,” was her second word.
Nix replied that “sadly,” the city council does not have any information about the newcomers to share with the public.
Nix said, “We just don’t know anything about it. All we know is that they are actually here legally.”
Then Councilman Ashton Fowler joined in and told the neighbor, “This is above us.” We learned when everyone else did.
Fowler said that he knew some of the Haitians from when they first started coming to his church.
“The people I go to church with are great,” he said. “That’s the only time I’ve talked to them. There’s more than that in town, I know that.”
“As far as we know, neither you nor I know how they got here or what their deal is.” Fowler told the person, “That goes way up.”
Nix said that the city council had “no reason” to look into the matter since “no crime has been committed.”
In response to the worried resident, Councilwoman Laura Barlow Heath said that she had tried to get in touch with state and federal leaders to find out more.
A second neighbor asked the city council why they didn’t know about the buses that bring foreigners to the area.
“That stuff we see on Facebook and other social networks is the same stuff you see. We do not know,” Nix responded.
Someone in the neighborhood asked the city council members why they hadn’t talked to someone about the busing issue.
“With all due respect, has anyone seen someone get this bused in?” The Nix asked. “That’s just a rumor. Though, it’s true that some individuals post and say things on social media that they have no knowledge of. No one has seen any of those things happen.”
The person who lived there replied, “But I also went by where some of them live. They’re just hanging out outside. They’re not doing their job.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Nix asked.
“They said they came here to work,” the neighbor said.
One person on the city council said that the foreigners might be working somewhere at night.
Nix said, “I wasn’t going to say anything about this, but I feel like I need to now. I want to welcome everyone who wants to come to Sylacauga.”
“That’s how I feel about it. I don’t see what the problem is if people aren’t breaking the law or making trouble,” she said.
After that, David Phillips, a third local, tried to talk about immigration again during the meeting, but Nix cut him off before he could finish.
“The way the council has been acting during this whole process is completely wrong,” he said. “They are not legal U.S. citizens, but you treat them like they are.”
Nix replied, “I’m going to cut it off,” which meant stopping the meeting. “We have no reason to want an investigation or treat people differently because of the way they look.”
“Who said that?” Phillips asked.
Barlow Heath told Nix that the people living there had “good reasons to be worried.”
“How do those worries make sense, Laura?” Nix asked.
“That’s it,” Nix said. “Everyone please leave, the meeting is over.”
Phil Phillips told Fox News Digital that he was “a little shocked” that the city council stopped the meeting.
