Haitian Immigrants in Springfield, Ohio – Vance’s lies
I grew up in southwest Ohio; some of my ancestors were Haitian immigrants; we have been in this country for about 250 years, migrating in the 18th Century from Haiti to New Orleans and then in the 19th to Kentucky then Cincinnati.
For whatever reason, JD Vance, a US Senator from Ohio and a candidate for the Vice Presidency of the United States chose to tell a whole series of lies about Haitian immigrants living and working in Springfield, Ohio. He and Trump served as an echo chamber for each other’s lies. This one started with Vance, then was echoed and amplified by Trump, then back to Vance.
Vance said the Haitians living in Springfield Ohio were illegal immigrants. They were not; they were legal immigrants admitted under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a long time feature of the US immigration system extended for many years to Haitians due to the terrible conditions in their own country.
Vance said the Haitians living in Springfield Ohio were eating their neighbors’ cats and dogs and the local geese. They were not. One local woman lost her cat in her own basement for a couple of weeks. One local 64-year-old white male shot and killed a couple of geese on the local golf course and was convicted for it.
Vance said the Haitians are spreading infectious diseases. This is simply untrue said the local health commissioner.
Vance said the Haitians are increasing crime rates. This too is untrue said the local law enforcement.
The Republican Governor of Ohio has asked Vance to stop spreading these lies about Haitians. The Republican mayor of Springfield has asked Vance to stop spreading these lies about Haitians in Springfield.
In point of fact, Haitians have helped the previously decaying town’s economic recovery filling vacant jobs and homes and doing a terrific job at work, report Springfield’s local business and civic leaders. Their influx has indeed put pressure on the local infrastructure of schools, clinics and housing to accommodate the new arrivals in Springfield.
Vance’s lies about Haitians in Springfield are doing real community damage with bomb threats closing local schools, hospitals and public buildings. He has acknowledged to CNN telling these falsehoods in order to gin up support for Trump’s flailing political campaign; his staff checked out the story before he told it and was told it wasn’t true. And yet it is a good story, albeit a false one, to gin up the racist and xenophobic messages central to the beating heart of the Trump campaign. It plays into American mythology about immigrant work forces, particularly those with darker skin colors. It happens to be a blatant lie told by Vance, knowing full well it was a lie.
How can you ever trust and support those who barefacedly lie and harm vulnerable communities for political gain or advantage?
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/10/nx-s1-5107320/jd-vance-springfield-ohio-haitians-pets
https://time.com/7034714/springfield-haitians-history/
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/politics/springfield-ohio-vance-campaign-wsj-report/index.html
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/haitian-population-springfield-ohio/story?id=113731377
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/immigration-working-class-wages/680128/