“But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one. Men know him not, and to know not is to care not for.” – from the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker

One of the coolest aspects of being on a college campus for as long as I have – as both a student and, more recently, as an instructor – is the opportunity to get to know people from far and near.

I never expected I would be able to cultivate friendships with people from Massachusetts, Michigan and Texas in addition to people from other countries – places like Indonesia, Nigeria, Mexico, Turkey, and even Iran.

International travel is not high up on the to-do list for our family of two parents working full-time and a seven-year-old with a busier extracurricular calendar than I knew was possible, so having the world come to meet us has been a special treat.

The outside world coming in to several Alabama communities recently has not been accepted quite as warmly in recent weeks. State media have reported several small cities have hosted community meetings in response to an increase in foreign nationals, particularly immigrants from Haiti.

The influx in Haitian immigrants is credited to a federal program begun last year known as Progresses for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans – called the CHNV program for short. It was designed to provide citizens from these countries legal status to live and work in the United States for two years.

Information from the American Immigration Council connects the creation of the CHNV program with an agreement with Mexico in which Mexico will agree to accept up to 30,000 people per month from these countries who were expelled from the U.S. for illegally crossing the border instead of the U.S. having to return the migrants to their home countries.

In return the U.S. allows up to 30,000 people per month from the CHNV countries to reside here temporarily provided they pass a background check, have been immunized for polio, measles, and COVID-19; and have a sponsor approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The goal of the CHNV program is to lessen the amount of people entering the country illegally by providing a pathway to remain in the country for two years with the government better able to monitor and have access to identifiable records for the migrants.

Over the summer residents in and around Albertville noticed charter buses picking up and dropping off Haitian migrants raising concerns of undocumented immigrants being bused into the area. It was later reported a poultry processing corporation was transporting the Haitian immigrants back and forth from a plant in another town on those buses.

Albertville held a series of community meetings where residents could air questions and concerns about the Haitian immigrants. Similar meetings have been reported in Sylacauga and Enterprise.

These meetings have featured discussions among local residents, many of whom, though not all, believe the Haitians have a detrimental effect on their communities, as reported by 1819 News.

There are legitimate concerns when an unknown group of people begin to show up in small, close-knit communities, particularly when the federal policy that allows for it is not effectively made known to the public.

However, there are three points important to keep in mind. The first is the Haitian nationals are in the country legally.

There are legitimate questions as to whether the presidential administration can operate the CHNV program without Congress passing legislation authorizing it, but until there is a court ruling one way or another, these immigrants have just as much of a right to be here as citizens do.

The second is these Haitian immigrants are escaping an absolutely dreadful situation back home. While it is impossible to say every last Haitian coming to Alabama has good intentions, I would argue the vast majority are willing to avoid trouble at any cost due to the possibility of deportation back to Haiti that comes with it.

The third is change is OK. We often worry change will always cause us to lose something rather than gain something. As much as we would like to prevent our world from changing, it will. Seeing people who obviously are different in our communities can trigger angst in some people since it is a visual representation of change we cannot prevent. I would recommend reaching out to those who are different. As I said at the beginning, I never expected to get to know people from all over the world, but I feel like the opportunity to do so has enriched my life. It is a heck of a lot easier and more gratifying than digging in and trying to run them off.