Republican Gov. Mike DeWine says GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, have “falsely portrayed” the impact Haitian immigrants have had on the place where he was born: Springfield, Ohio.
“As a supporter of former President Donald Trump and Senator J.D. Vance, I am saddened by how they and others continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage the legal migrants living in Springfield,” Mr. DeWine said in a New York Times op-ed. “This rhetoric hurts the city and its people, and it hurts those who have spent their lives there.”
Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance have parroted the claim that Haitian migrants have been abducting and eating cats, dogs and geese. The duo is sharing the assertion to highlight the Biden-Harris administration’s open southern border.
Pressed on the issue, Mr. Vance said he’s simply repeating the stories his constituents have told him and that the city has struggled to accommodate the surge of Haitians moving to the city.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has called it an invasion and said the Haitian migrants who moved to Springfield are illegal and “destroying [citizens’] entire way of life.” His warning has been clear: If it can happen in Springfield, it can happen anywhere in America.
Suddenly under the spotlight, the city — which has been strained by the influx of migrants — has faced bomb threats that have led to schools being canceled and Wittenberg University going remote.
Mr. DeWine said Springfield struggled through tough times during the 1980s and 1990s and has experienced a manufacturing comeback that has attracted Haitian migrants, who “are there legally” and “to work.”
“We know that the Haitian people want the same things we all want — a good job, the chance to get a quality education and the ability to raise a family in a safe and secure environment,” he said. “Haitian migrants have gone to Springfield because of the jobs and a chance for a better life there.”
Mr. DeWine said Americans are right to be worried about Mr. Biden’s failure to address the problems at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“But their verbal attacks against these Haitians — who are legally present in the United States — dilute and cloud what should be a winning argument about the border,” he said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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