OAN’s Taylor Tinsley
1:05 PM – Wednesday, March 20, 2024
The House Judiciary Committee is launching an inquiry into a Haitian national charged with the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Rockland, Massachusetts.
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Representatives Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) penned a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announcing the investigation on Tuesday.
26-year-old Cory Alvarez is charged with aggravated rape of a child. He is being held without bail and was ordered to surrender his passport.
A front desk worker at the Comfort Inn in Rockland called 911 to report the allege rape on March 13th.
The 15-year-old and Alvarez are both Haitian migrants who were staying at the inn as part of a migrant housing program.
Through multiple translators, she told investigators the alleged rape took place in Alvarez’s hotel room while he was helping her with apps on her iPad.
According to the police report the 15-year-old said, “I told him to leave me alone, but he didn’t stop.”
The Haitian national was reportedly flown over to the states in June 2023 as part of the Biden Administrations CHNV program, which allows Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants to come to the U.S. legally for up to two years.
Alvarez had been staying at the hotel since October 2023 while seeking immigration status.
Governor Maura Healey (D-Mass.) confirmed Alvarez entered the states through a federal program.
“This person was vetted by the state in terms of a background check, a check that we do for all entries to our shelter and he cleared that,” Healey said. “We have vetting in place, we continue to have those measures in place. And we continue to call on the federal government and specifically Congress to act and fund what it needs to fund in terms of resources at the border.”
Last week, Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll (D-Mass.) launched a partnership to help migrant families find permanent housing and jobs.
“Resettlement agencies have long played a critical role in helping families in Massachusetts get connected with housing, jobs and other critical resources,” said Governor Healey. “We’re grateful to the Legislature for providing this funding to expand their efforts so that we can meet the needs of families in our Emergency Assistance shelter system. Our communities and our economy will be stronger because of this partnership.”
Rockland residents said they had no say once the state decided to turn the inn into a shelter.
The hotel is just one of several housing sites being used by the state to temporarily house migrants, after Massachusetts reached its capacity of 7,500 families in emergency shelters last November.
Alvarez is expected to appear for a dangerousness hearing on March 22nd.
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