by Jason Hopkins
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the economic progress made in Springfield would be lost if the thousands of Haitians currently living there left.
Springfield attracted widespread media attention after viral reports online about Haitian migrants allegedly eating pets, and many longtime residents said the huge influx of migrants had strained the city’s infrastructure. But on Wednesday, the Republican governor said the thousands of Haitians who have settled in Springfield are necessary to the city’s employment sector.
“I was asked a question a few weeks ago: What would happen if all the Haitians left Springfield?” DeWine, a Republican, said in the process press conference this included a decline in overdose deaths in Ohio. “And the reality is that some of the economic progress we have made in Springfield will fade away.”
“Haitians came here to work,” the Republican governor said. “They were hired because there was work. They were hired because there were vacancies that the companies could not fill.”
In September, Springfield was thrust into the national spotlight alleged on social media page for local residents that a Haitian migrant was caught butchering a cat for consumption. This claim gained more attention under former President Donald Trump he mentioned it during the presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Daily Caller News Foundation visited Springfield and spoke with longtime residents about the interest the city is receiving. While no one who spoke to DCNF could confirm the claims of migrants eating animals, many locals did he expressed dismay at the sheer number of Haitian migrants arriving in the relatively petite town – z estimates saying that in just the last few years, between 15,000 and 20,000 Haitians have arrived in Springfield, overwhelming a city of less than 60,000 people.
The huge influx of Haitian immigrants has strained transportation, education and other social services in the city, locals told DCNF. City officials also talked to the city manager about logistical obstacles resulting from population growth in July warning of an impending housing crisis in Springfield and asking the federal government for support.
Trump, who has made border enforcement a hallmark of his campaign, actually did just that previously declared ending the Temporary Protected Status of Haitians and “bringing them back” to their country.
However, a spokesman for the governor’s office told DCNF on Thursday that they are not aware of any formal plan by the Trump team to deport Haitians living in Springfield.
In fiscal year 2024, approximately 2.1 million migrants crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, According to the latest data released by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The latest data puts the total number of migrant encounters at the southern border under the Biden-Harris administration at about 8.5 million, which does not include the roughly half a million migrants brought into the country through the White House line. CHNV program.
The number of illegal border crossings in fiscal year 2024 was the second worst in U.S. history, surpassed only in fiscal year 2023. According to data tracked by CBP.
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Jason Hopkins is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Governor Mike DeWine” photo by Governor Mike DeWine.
