The Springfield Geese

One of Trump's most controversial claims in Tuesday night's debate was that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, OH were eating local people's pets:

"They're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats," Trump said during an answer to a question about immigration. "They're eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame."

. . . David Muir, the ABC News anchor co-moderating the debate, immediately fact-checked Trump's claims, saying that the city manager in Springfield, Ohio, told the network there had been no credible reports of pets being harmed, injured or abused by people in the city's immigrant community.

PolitiFact chimed in:

But are the social media claims true about the immigrants eating their neighbors’ pets and dining on local waterfowl? City spokesperson Karen Graves, in a statement to PolitiFact, said no.

"In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community," Graves said.

Nor are there reports about ducks and geese being killed and eaten, Graves said.

The mayor of Spriogfield has also denounced reports of Haitians eating cats and ducks as a "rumor":

Local officials and community leaders have vehemently denied these claims, stating that no evidence supports such a disturbing accusation. The Springfield Police Department has conducted thorough investigations and found no reports of any such incidents.

"There is absolutely no truth to these rumors," said Rob Rue, the Mayor of Springfield. "Our city is committed to welcoming and supporting all residents, regardless of their background or origin. We will not tolerate the spread of misinformation that harms our community."

However, this story provides clear documentation from police records of a report made on August 26 of four Haitians, each carrying the body of a goose. But the problem goes beyond pets and geese:

🚨 BREAKING:
SPRINGFIELD, OHIO UPDATE

Local mother and resident of 7+ years says that the 20,000+ Haitians are outpricing and pushing low-income renters like her out of the neighborhood with money from assisted living, food stamps, and other government aid.

She says she’ll… pic.twitter.com/MzFB25cF7S

— Tyler Oliveira (@tyleraloevera) September 10, 2024

Other residents interviewed by Tyler Oliveira say the problem goes back for months or years, but it appears that local officials, including as we see here the mayor and city manager, have been denying that it exists -- at least until Trump made it a front-burner issue:

The governor of Ohio will send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants that has landed it in the national spotlight.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday he doesn't oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which some 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help impacted communities.

His news conference was held just hours before the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump, where the divide over immigration policy was sure to be an issue.

Why has this been allowed to fester? Suddenly Ohio's Republican attorney general has got religion, too:

On Monday, Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost also drew attention to the crisis when he directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending “an unlimited number of migrants to Ohio communities."

. . . “These dramatic surges impact every citizen of the community, every citizen,” he said, noting additional influxes are occurring in Findlay and Lima, Ohio. "Moms who have to wait hours in a waiting room with a sick child, everyone who drives on the streets, and it affects children who go to school in more crowded classrooms.”

On Wednesday, the Ohio State Highway Patrol will be dispatched to help local law enforcement with traffic issues that officials say have cropped up due to an increase in Haitians unfamiliar with U.S. traffic laws using the roads. DeWine said he is also earmarking $2.5 million over two years to provide more primary healthcare through the county health department and private healthcare institutions.

So all of a sudden, the Republican establishment, which had been turning a blind eye to the problems in Springfield and apparently Findlay and Lima, and very likely plenty of other places, is suddenly looking at suing the federal goverment and maybe even enforcing traffic laws. Sounds like J D vance may have been making some good points with those fellas.

But this link raises some worthwhile questions:

The migrant influx began when city officials worked with local business owners to recruit Mexicans on the southern border, Monaghan said. But that trickle turned into a flood of Haitians, he said, adding: “The rich have mobilized [migrants] to destroy the working and middle classes.”

. . . Amid the sudden displacement of Americans, Democrats and national media outlets prefer to divert the nation’s attention to rumors about missing pets in the city.

. . . Since 2021, Biden and his deputies have imported roughly 10 million legal, quasi-legal, and illegal migrants. Those migrants have absorbed nearly all of the extra lower-wage jobs created by President Joe Biden’s deficit spending. His combination of deficit spending, wage-cutting migration, additional low-wage jobs, and investor windfalls are the core of Bidenomics.

So there are people, some in fact Republicans, who are profiting from, or at least enabling, the influx of illegal migrants. Springfield is showing a new and valuable perspective. But there are aspects that don't compoute. The link describes Ohio businesses that want cheap, compliant labor -- which some illegals may certainly be -- but the Haitian community definitely isn't supporting itself with the earnings of the good workers. It's draining welfare and medical resources if it isn't eating pets outright, something the Ohio Republican establishment is only belatedly coming to recognize.

The Ohio employers who want cheap immigrant labor are getting a free ride at the expense of ordinary Ohio citizens. UPDATE:

This is an absolutely insane video.

A Springfield, Ohio homeless advocate tells the city council that landlords are kicking people out of their homes and replacing them with Haitians and that the Biden-Harris government is paying them to do it.

He says he personally knows… pic.twitter.com/edNKl4tpDz

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 12, 2024