Springfield, Ohio, was abruptly thrust onto the national stage this week as Donald Trump and his allies zeroed in on the city’s Haitian population, peddling racist conspiracy theories about it. As a result, Haitian residents say they’re facing a barrage of harassment and threats, leaving them fearing for their safety.
Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, elevated a lie about Haitians in Springfield eating pets, a thoroughly debunked claim that the Republican presidential nominee promoted Tuesday on the presidential debate stage to millions of viewers. (The claim was fostered in part by a neo-Nazi group that has waged a hate campaign against the community for months, NBC News reported.)
Several other Republicans have amplified those lies, including Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. Vance has also claimed that Haitians are causing a rise in communicable diseases in the city, which, as NBC News reported, is an assertion that’s been disputed by Chris Cook, the Clark County Combined Health District commissioner.
This blatant disinformation has had real consequences on Springfield’s Haitian residents, most of whom are eligible to remain in the U.S. under the federal government’s Temporary Protected Status program. Families in Springfield told The Haitian Times, a news outlet serving the Haitian diaspora, that they’ve faced a spate of harassment and intimidation, and community activists have said some parents are keeping their children home from school for safety.
Reuters reports the hostile climate has also led to threats against people and community centers. On Thursday, local authorities evacuated City Hall, an elementary school and several other buildings across Springfield due to a bomb threat. Mayor Rob Rue told The Washington Post that the threat contained “hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in our community.” Another bomb threat on Friday led to the evacuation of several public schools and municipal buildings, and the threat also targeted city commissioners and a municipal employee.
Earlier this week, the father of an 11-year-old boy in Springfield who died last year in an accident involving a Haitian immigrant criticized Trump and Vance for weaponizing his son’s death against the community.
Trump has built his political career on vilifying and dehumanizing immigrants, particularly immigrants of color. A 2016 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center found that Trump’s fearmongering negatively affected students and teachers, and now yet another community is bearing the brunt of his racist lies.
What’s worse is that both Trump and Vance have publicly admitted they have no evidence for their claims. When fact-checked on the debate stage on Tuesday night, Trump said, “Well, I’ve seen people on television.” Vance also acknowledged that the claims are “rumors” he says he’s heard “firsthand and secondhand.” But Vance has nonetheless encouraged his followers not to be “dissuaded” by the lack of evidence and to “keep the cat memes flowing.”
