The racist remarks against Haitians in Springfield, Ohio that both Presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate Sen. J.D. Vance continue to make, claiming that Haitian residents in that city are eating cats and dogs and spreading infectious disease, not only have no basis in reality, they are likely just fabricated. In Sept. 15 comments Vance made to CNN reported by The Atlantic, he declared, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.” According to the same article, Vance had acknowledged some days earlier that “it’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” but left it at that.
Recall President Donald Trump’s statement in January 2018, that Haiti, along with some African countries, was just one of many useless “shithole” countries whose immigrants shouldn’t get any special consideration. Vance, meanwhile, has doubled down on his vile claims in Springfield about Haitians, arguing that his Ohio “constituents” have reported the alleged cat and dog-eating incidents to him, and his job is to “protect them.” The Haitian community in Springfield, meantime, has been terrorized: Schools, municipal buildings, and community centers have been shut down due to bomb threats, and state and local police are accompanying frightened children to school.
Contrary to Trump’s and Vance’s assertion that Haitians “were dumped” into Springfield, all Haitian immigrants are legal residents, most as part of the Biden administration’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, which also takes into account that Haiti is in the midst of a dangerous security and humanitarian crisis. Undeterred, on Sept. 18, in Raleigh, North Carolina, Vance ranted that Haitians who are in the U.S. as part of the TPS program are really still “illegal aliens,” who have been unlawfully protected from deportation by Biden, suggesting that would change if Trump is elected, National Public Radio reported.
Companies in Springfield that employ Haitians praise them for their strong work ethic, noting that their presence has helped with the community’s economic revitalization. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has called the attacks on Haitians “garbage,” and demanded that the smear campaign stop. Threats have been “very disruptive” to the Springfield community at large, particularly putting a strain on young students and their parents, he said. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, also a Republican, made similar comments. Asked during a Sept. 17 press conference about a possible Trump visit to the city, which Trump himself had mooted, Rue replied as diplomatically as he could muster, “it would be an extreme strain on our resources. So it’d be fine with me if they decided not to make that visit.”
