Haitian migrant charged with rape of 15-year-old girl entered via controversial parole program: sources

A Haitian migrant now charged with rape of a 15-year-old girl at a Massachusetts hotel housing migrants was allowed into the U.S. by a controversial parole program that allows up to 30,000 migrants a month to fly into the country, sources tell Fox News.

Local authorities in Rockland, Mass., arrested 26-year-old Cory Alvarez, a Haitian national. The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said he went before a Hingham District Court judge on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to a single count of aggravated rape of a child.

The DA’s office said Rockland police responded to the Comfort Inn on Wednesday night, for reports of a sexual assault. The hotel participates in a state and federal program to house migrant families, and Alvarez lived at the hotel. When officers arrived, they spoke with the 15-year-old female victim, who was taken to an area hospital to be treated.

Multiple Department of Homeland Security sources tell Fox News that Alvarez is a Haitian national who came to the U.S. in June via the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan (CHNV) parole processes.

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This undated image shows Cory Alvarez, charged with aggravated rape of a child.  (Fox News)

The policy was first announced for Venezuelans in October 2022, which allowed a limited number to fly directly into the U.S. as long as they had not entered illegally, had a sponsor in the U.S. already and passed certain checks. 

In January 2023, the administration announced that the program was expanding to include Haitians, Nicaraguans and Cubans and that the program would allow up to 30,000 people per month into the U.S. It allows for migrants to receive work permits and a two-year authorization to live in the U.S. and was announced alongside an expansion of Title 42 expulsions to include those nationalities.

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The Department of Homeland Security recently said the process, which it describes as a "safe and orderly way to reach the United States" is a "key element" of the administration’s efforts to address high levels of migration throughout the Hemisphere. Republicans have accused the administration of abusing the parole process with the program, but a recent lawsuit from 20 GOP-led states was recently shot down in the courts.

Migrants who crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico are lined up for processing by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Fox News is told that Alvarez flew directly from Haiti to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City in June, and was sponsored by someone in New Jersey. Fox News is also told that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer has been lodged against Alvarez. According to official data, the Biden admin has brought over 138,000 Haitians into the U.S. via the CHNV parole program since January 2023.

In a statement on Sunday, a DHS spokesperson said the agency "cannot comment on ongoing criminal proceedings beyond the standard information provided by ICE." 

"That said, the alleged crime is heinous, individuals should be held responsible to the fullest extent under the law," the spokesperson said.

DHS says that the alleged offender was screened and vetted against national security databases and no derogatory information was available. The agency says any individual found to pose a threat to either national security or public safety is denied admission, detained, removed or referred to other agencies.

Meanwhile, there are concerns about a potential migrant wave coming from Haiti as violence escalates in the Caribbean country. Florida this week sent troops and aircraft to the coast in order to prevent illegal immigrants landing in boats.

Pedestrians run for cover after hearing gunshots in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Thursday, March 7. (AP/Odelyn Joseph)

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DHS has said it is monitoring the situation in Haiti, although it has stressed that migration flows remain low. It has also warned that any migrants who cross by boat are "subject to immediate repatriation pursuant to our longstanding policy and procedures."