Springfield, Ohio — At the St. Vincent de Paul Society community center in Springfield, Ohio, Haitian immigrants receive food, clothing, and help finding jobs.
“They’re here and they’re our responsibility,” said Kaci Rollins, who manages the community center.
Rollins tells CBS News the aid is a warm welcome for asylum seekers fleeing violence and famine in countries in decline.
Rollins said the migrants “want work,” adding that some of them “work three jobs and never stop working.”
As of 2020, approximately 15,000 Haitians have settled in Springfield. The city has a population of just under 60,000.
Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday that in an effort to address the “influx of migrants” into Springfield, he is deploying Ohio State Highway Patrol officers to patrol Springfield’s roads and providing $2.5 million in health care funding.
“These Haitians came here to work because there were jobs, and they filled a lot of jobs,” DeWine said. told CBS News in an interview on Wednesday. “And when you talk to employers, they’ve done a very, very good job and they’re working very, very hard.”
But when it comes to immigration, Springfield has since become tense last augustwhen a minivan driven by a Haitian immigrant without a valid driver’s license collided head-on with a school bus, killing 11-year-old Aiden Clark.
And on Tuesday night, former President Donald Trump added fuel to the fire of local grievances by repeating an unfounded conspiracy theory during the debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
“In Springfield they’re eating the dogs, the people that came here, they’re eating the cats. They’re… eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a disgrace,” Trump said.
Moderator David Muir responded immediately, reading a statement from the Springfield city manager, which said, “There have been no credible reports of specific allegations that pets have been abused, injured or mistreated by individuals within the immigrant community.”
DeWine echoed that on Wednesday, telling CBS News there was “no truth” to Trump’s claims.
And while the claims are false, the pain in the migrant community has long been felt.
“We try every day to make ourselves better,” one migrant told CBS News. “And if you make us better, the neighborhood gets better, the city gets better.”
Springfield was once a manufacturing center. Since 2000, those manufacturing jobs have fallen by nearly half, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from about 13,000 to 7,000 in 2024.
Haitian immigrants, most of whom have temporary protected status and work permits, have been accused of stealing jobs. But business owners like recruiter Alex Muller see their presence as essential. Muller says many locals have left the workforce during the pandemic.
“They are very welcoming, very kind and very grateful for the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families,” Muller said.
It’s a complicated issue that can’t be divided along political lines. Nathan Clark, the man whose son died in last year’s bus crash, understands that better than anyone.
“Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible,” Clark said Tuesday during a Springfield City Commission meeting. “…My son, Aiden Clark, was not murdered. He was accidentally murdered by an immigrant from Haiti. This tragedy has been (happening) throughout the community, the state and even the country, but don’t turn it into hate.”
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