Watch Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s post about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said in a press conference on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, that the influx of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, is impacting health care for all members of the community.
- Donald Trump claims migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating pets. Local authorities say that’s not true. Here’s what Springfield authorities say.
- The person who recently killed and ate a cat was not from Springfield, but a woman from Canton, Ohio, who was first arrested there in 2011.
- A photo of a man carrying a goose down the street who is believed on social media to be a Haitian immigrant from Springfield was taken in Columbus, Ohio, not Springfield.
Former President Donald Trump repeated this claim during Tuesday’s presidential debate.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people who came here,” Trump said. “They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people who live there. That’s what’s happening in our country, and it’s a disgrace.”
Republicans, including Senator JD Vance, the vice presidential candidate, have made the growing Haitian population in Springfield, Ohio, a major issue in the presidential campaign. But are the claims that they eat pets true?
Here’s a look at the problem.
Officials in Springfield, Ohio: ‘No credible reports’ of crimes committed by Haitian migrants; no cats or dogs were injured
In Springfield, an industrial city of about 58,000 people northeast of Dayton, the Haitian population has grown to between 15,000 and 20,000 in recent years, according to a previous Cincinnati Enquirer article. City Manager Bryan Heck wrote to U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown and Tim Scott asking for help in alleviating a “significant housing crisis” in the city.
Referring to that letter, Vance said immigrants were overwhelming services and housing in Springfield. Vance’s statements led to an explosion of stories on social media that quickly turned into accusations against immigrants that were not true, according to Springfield police and Heck’s office, the Springfield News-Sun reported.
Vance helped spread the pet-eating rumor on social media, but Heck refuted it. The city manager released a statement saying there was no evidence that the Haitian immigrants had harmed or eaten cats or other pets. The statement also refuted rumors that immigrants had been involved in “illegal activities such as squatting or dumping garbage” or “intentionally obstructing traffic.”
Haitians and other Springfield residents react to their role at the center of the immigration debate
Springfield is in the spotlight because of false reports about immigrants eating pets and wild geese. How are Haitians and the local population feeling about this?
Alimemby Estimable is confused by rumors that Haitians were shipped to Springfield and that the Haitians were only there legally because of the federal Temporary Protected Status program, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
Estimable, 19, moved to Springfield four years ago and graduated from Springfield High School. He works at an Amazon warehouse and said he has been called a “dirty Haitian” and an “illegal.”
“Most of us work in warehouses and factories. You can’t work there illegally. Of course we work legally,” he told the Dispatch.
Other residents say the city and county are overwhelmed and wish the Haitian population was “evenly distributed” across Ohio’s counties. Some say Haitians are unfairly scapegoated and are an easy target, according to the Dispatch.
“Someone’s cat is missing? They’re going to say it’s the Haitians,” Joe Ruck, co-owner of Champion City Cuts Barber Shop in Springfield, told the Dispatch.
Columbus man regrets that photo was used by right-wing media as a weapon against immigrants
Photos and videos taken out of context or completely misrepresented are being used to spread misinformation about Haitian immigrants in Ohio.
One of these photos shows a man carrying a dead goose in Columbus. This photo is being used as evidence by right-wing politicians who falsely claim that Haitian immigrants are eating domestic and wild animals in Springfield, Ohio. The man who took the photo, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Columbus Dispatch that he now regrets it.
“I wish I had never done it, for sure. And I hate that the image I took is being used as a weapon against immigrants or really any other group. They always need someone to use as a weapon. A group that is the bad guy,” he said.
The photo shows a person carrying what appears to be a dead goose down Cleveland Avenue in Columbus. A Google Street View of the background of the photo shows that the photo was taken in Columbus and not Springfield as some right-wing accounts claimed.
The photo was shared on the Columbus subreddit, but was picked up by several right-wing X-profiles as alleged proof of the claims.
Video of Ohio woman accused of eating cat was taken in Canton, Ohio, not Springfield
Similarly, the Fake News Network posted a video on YouTube titled “Haitian Woman Eats Neighbor’s Cat in Springfield” falsely claims it shows police officers confronting a Haitian woman in Springfield for eating a cat, the Canton Repository reports.
What the video actually shows, however, is bodycam footage from Canton Police Department officers at the scene of the Aug. 16 incident in Canton. It is part of an ongoing court case involving a 27-year-old Canton resident accused of killing and eating a cat.
Allexis T. Ferrell of Canton arrested for eating cats
Allexis T. Ferrell is accused of animal cruelty. She is accused of killing the cat by stepping on its head and then eating it.
Allexis T. Ferrell is charged with animal cruelty, a fifth-degree felony. She is accused of killing the cat by stepping on its head before eating it. She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and must now pay $100,000.
“Ferrell was first arrested in Canton in 2011,” police spokesman Lt. Dennis Garren wrote in an email to the repository. “We have no reason to believe she is not a U.S. citizen.”
Trump also mentions Venezuelan gangs in Aurora, Colorado. Are his claims accurate?
In addition to Springfield, Trump also mentioned Aurora, Colorado, in his speech on Tuesday, claiming that criminal immigrants “take over the cities, they occupy buildings, they enter with violence.”
According to The Denverite, Trump was referring to the presence of Venezuelan gangs in the city, his third mention in recent weeks.
The Denverite reports that the allegations stem from accusations by the landlord of several apartment buildings that Venezuelan gang members had taken control and attempted to evict the managers and extort payments from residents. While local authorities say the Tren de Aragua gang has a presence in the Denver metropolitan area, they maintain that it is relatively small.
According to Denverite, other reports of crimes have come from the buildings, including one from a woman who showed local media a video showing armed men entering an apartment. She told CBS News she saw shootings and people with automatic weapons and said police did little.
However, many of the apartment’s residents say the rumors about gang crackdowns are false or exaggerated, the Denverite reports. At a press conference, some said the video of armed men was a “one-off” event.
