WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 — Haitian Americans say they fear for their safety after Donald Trump repeated false and derogatory comments about immigrants in Ohio during this week’s presidential debate .
Haitian community leaders across the US say the Republican candidate’s suggestion during a debate with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris that immigrants eating family pets could endanger people’s lives was a major concern in the city of Springfield, Ohio,Which is also affected by the recent arrivals .
“We have to be careful everywhere,” said Wills Dorsainville, 38, who said he has received threatening phone calls at the Haitian community center he runs in Springfield. He said a friend who works at an Amazon warehouse has considered quitting because of the hostility.
“He said things are getting out of control right now; people are saying bad things about us and how they’re treating us,” Dossonville said.
Trump’s comment on Tuesday that “they’re eating dogs and the people that are coming in are eating cats” was the latest in a series of lies about immigrants that have defined his political career. It comes after his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, spread similar false claims about Springfield’s new residents on social media .
City officials said they had received no credible reports of people eating livestock. City spokeswoman Karen Graves said she was not aware of any recent hate crimes against Haitians, but that some were victims of “crimes of opportunity” such as property theft.
The Haitian Times reports that some Haitian families in Springfield, Ohio are keeping their children away from school, while other sources told the paper they are receiving threats on their doorsteps due to racist comments on social media.
The lie is based on the frustration of some in the western Ohio city who say the 15,000 Haitians who have arrived in recent years to boost the city’s economy have drained the resources of local schools and medical clinics and driven up rents.
Tensions have escalated since a Haitian without an Ohio driver’s license slammed his car into a school bus in 2023, killing 11-year-old Aiden Clark and injuring 26 other children.
“People are really fed up. Things are going to get worse,” city resident Richard Jordan said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
At the same meeting, Clark’s father, Nathan Clark, criticized Trump and Vance for exploiting his son’s death.
“They can express whatever they want about illegal immigration, the border crisis, and even false claims that community members are slaughtering and eating pets,” Clark said. “However, they were not allowed to mention Spring, Ohio.”
Last month, a white supremacist was kicked out of a city council meeting for making threatening comments about Haitian immigrants.
“My heart is broken”
Ahead of the debate, billionaire Elon Musk further spread this falsehood on his X social media platform, as did Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee.
Gaylen Joseph, director of the national advocacy group Haiti Bridge Alliance, said his organization was trying to dispel rumors ahead of the debate.
When Trump mentioned it, “my heart dropped to the ground,” she said. “It has become a national lie, repeated by people all over the world.”
Taisha Saintil, now an analyst at the immigration advocacy group UndocuBlack Network, said Trump’s comments brought back painful memories for her when she attended a Florida elementary school in 2006.
About 1.1 million Haitian Americans live in the United States, about half of them immigrants, according to the Census Bureau. Haitian immigrants, long settled in Florida and New York, have recently moved to states like North Carolina and California in search of work, Joseph said.
Looking for a job
Springfield officials say most Haitian immigrants are in the country legally and come here to work in warehouses and factories. They opened two restaurants and seven grocery stores, according to a city fact sheet.
“Although we are facing challenges related to the rapid growth of our immigrant population, these challenges are primarily due to the rate of growth,” City Manager Brian Heck said in Wednesday’s video.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said Tuesday that the state would provide $2.5 million to help new residents access vaccines and other medical services and send state police to help enforce traffic laws. He said President Joe Biden’s administration should also provide aid to cities like Springfield, which has seen a sudden surge in new arrivals.
Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist and founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, said Trump’s rhetoric could galvanize his supporters and allow him to appeal to undecided voters, particularly disaffected ones who feel the country’s white voter turnout is in decline.
“Dehumanizing people is a long-standing strategy that has proven effective in times of social change,” he said.
But Haitian-American leaders say the strategy risks escalating violence.
Democratic Representative Sheila Serfilus-McCormick, the only Haitian American in Congress, said Trump’s comments threatened Haitians across the country.
“We’ve been hearing stereotypes for years about Haitians, about black immigrants, and they’ve done all these things that we know are lies,” he said.
Gypsy Metellus, director of the Santa La Haitian Community Center in North Miami, said Trump’s comments were seen as a “cheap political attack” in her community but were a direct threat to the people of Springfield.
He said, “The consequences of such statements will be very bad.”
