After Donald Trump repeated a false and derogatory claim about immigrants during this week’s presidential debate in Ohio, Haitian Americans stated that they are concerned for their safety.
Haitian community leaders across the U.S. said the former president’s comments regarding immigrants eating family pets during his discussion with Democrat VP Kamala Harris could seriously jeopardize people’s safety.
Fanning the Flames
There are concerns that Trump’s remarks will fan the tensions in the small city of Springfield, Ohio, where huge number of new Haitian arrivals have supported the local economy yet additionally put a strain on the safety net.
“We have to be careful where we go,” said Viles Dorsainvil, 38, to Reuters, who says the Haitian community center he leads in Springfield has been plagued by threatening phone calls. The aggression has provoked one friend working at an Amazon distribution center to consider leaving, he said.
“Making Bad Comments About Us”
Dorsainvil went on to say, “He said that things are getting out of hand now; the way people are treating us, making bad comments about us.”
Trump’s comment “they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats” is the most recent in a long line of lies about migrants that have characterized his political profession.
“Crimes of Opportunity”
It followed a comparable bogus claim spread by his running mate, U.S. Senator JD Vance of Ohio, via social media about Springfield’s new occupants.
According to city officials, there are no credible reports of people consuming domestic animals. Karen Graves, a city representative, said she didn’t know about recent hate crimes aimed at Haitian inhabitants but that some had been casualties of “crimes of opportunity,” like property theft.
Strained Resources
Haitian families in Springfield, Ohio, were preventing their children from going to school, and some were the subject of bullying, assaults, and intimidation at their homes after social media amplified these derogatory comments according to the Haitian Times.
The lie benefited from the dissatisfactions of some in the western Ohio city, who say the 15,000 Haitians who have shown up lately to fuel the city’s economy, have likewise put a strain on the limited resources at nearby schools and hospitals and increased rents.
“People Are Getting Really Fed Up”
The community has faced tension with locals since a Haitian driver without an Ohio license struck a school bus in 2023, killing 11-year-old Aiden Clark and harming 26 other kids.
At a city council meeting on Tuesday resident Richard Jordan said, “People are getting really fed up. Things are going to get ugly.”
“Fluffy Pets Being Ravaged”
Clark’s dad Nathan Clark condemned Trump and Vance for taking advantage of his child’s death at the same city council meeting.
Clark stated, “They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis, and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members. However, they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed, to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio.”
Quell the Rumor
A white supremacist who had made threats to Haitian immigrants was kicked out of a meeting of the city council last month.
Prior to the debate, billionaire Elon Musk further spread the claim on his X social media platform, as did conservatives on the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Guerline Jozef, who chairs the national advocacy group Haitian Bridge Alliance, said her organization had been attempting to quell the rumor before Harris and Trump faced off.
“A Nationwide Lie”
At the point when Trump referenced the rumor, Jozef said “my heart fell to the floor. This has become a nationwide lie that people everywhere are repeating.”
Taisha Saintil, presently an analyst with the immigrant advocacy group UndocuBlack Network, said Trump’s comment brought back difficult recollections of being provoked when she showed up at a Florida primary school in 2006.
Moving States
1.1 million Haitian Americans live in the U.S., about half of whom are immigrants, as per the Census Bureau. Long settled in Florida and New York, Haitian immigrants have as of late been moving to states like North Carolina and California to seek work, Jozef said.
Springfield authorities say most Haitian migrants are in the nation lawfully, drawn by occupations at distribution centers and plants. According to a city fact sheet, they have opened two restaurants and seven grocery stores.
“Challenges Related to Rapid Growth”
In a video posted on Wednesday, city manager Bryan Heck stated, “While we are experiencing challenges related to the rapid growth of our immigrant population, these challenges are primarily due to the pace of the growth.”
Ohio Governor Republican Mike DeWine, said on Tuesday the state is giving $2.5 million to assist the new occupants with getting vaccines and accessing other health services, and state police are being enlisted in order to aid in enforcing traffic laws.
Seeking Help
DeWine said President Joe Biden’s administration ought to likewise give help to cities like Springfield that see an unexpected expansion in new immigrants.
Trump’s remarks could stimulate his allies to assist him with winning over unsure voters, especially frustrated white citizens who feel their very own sense of decline in this nation, said Republican strategist Mike Madrid, the man behind the anti-Trump Lincoln Project.
Madrid stated, “The attempts to dehumanize people is a long-proven strategy to work at a time when society’s undergoing change.”
