GOP launches probe of rape suspect
Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, has launched an inquiry into the Haitian migrant charged last week with raping a 15-year-old girl at a Rockland hotel where migrant families are living, according to the committee.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Jordan and Republican Representative Tom McClintock of California requested information on the immigration history and screening process of Cory B. Alvarez, who lawfully entered the United States in June through a federal program, according to Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and a spokesperson for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Jordan and McClintock requested the files on Alvarez, who entered through New York, “to assist the Committee with its continued oversight of federal immigration policy and procedures,” the letter stated.
The Boston Herald first reported the inquiry.
Alvarez, who pleaded not guilty to a child rape charge in Hingham District Court on March 14, is being held without bail.
ICE placed an immigration detainer against him with the Plymouth County sheriff ’s office, according to the spokesperson. The procedure is used against noncitizens accused of a crime whom ICE wants to take into custody if they are released by local authorities.
In the wake of the charge against Alvarez, Healey defended the state’s shelter program, saying state officials are “deploying all that we can in terms of vetting individuals.” Republican officials in the state expressed sympathy for the victim but called into question the state’s capacity to manage the influx of migrants.
The probe comes as a number of Republican lawmakers have used the allegations against Alvarez to further criticize immigration policies under President Biden, who will face Donald Trump in an election rematch in November after clinching their parties’ nominations last week.
Last Friday, Trump’s campaign blasted out Fox News coverage of the allegations to supporters. Republicans Jim Banks, an Indiana representative, and Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee senator, took to social media in recent days to blame the alleged assault on Biden’s immigration policies, with Banks writing: “This is Biden’s America.”
The American Immigration Council, a national nonpartisan organization and advocate for immigration reform, published a report in 2015 that found immigrants are less likely to commit serious crimes or be behind bars than native-born residents.
Alvarez and the girl, who is also from Haiti, had been staying at the Comfort Inn in Rockland since October, but did not know each other before.
Police responded to a report of a sexual assault at the hotel around 7 p.m. last Wednesday. The alleged assault happened when the girl visited Alvarez’s room for help fixing her iPad, according to Rockland police.