'I'm going to have to move': Haitian migrants 'anxious and scared' amid wave of MAGA attacks

12 September 2024

During his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, September 10, former President Donald Trump repeated the racist and debunked conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio have been kidnapping dogs and cats from residents' homes and eating them.

Trump falsely claimed, "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there."

But ABC News' David Muir, one of the debate moderators, fact-checked Trump — noting that according to the city manager's office in Springfield, there have been no reports of pets being harmed.

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a conservative Republican, have also pushed back against the baseless claim.

DeWine told CBS News, "This is something that came up on the internet, and the internet can be quite crazy sometimes… Mayor Rue of Springfield says, 'No, there's no truth in that.' They have no evidence of that at all. So, I think we go with what the mayor says. He knows his city."

But Haitians living in the area, according to the Haitian Times, fear for their safety.

Haitian Times reporter Macollvie J. Neel explains, "The morning after former President Donald Trump repeated racist claims about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, some Haitian families are keeping their children home from school for their safety, according to an area activist. Those who allowed their children did so, but with heavy hearts."

A Haitian resident of Springfield told the Times that her niece "was scared" to go to school.

The woman, interviewed on condition of anonymity, lamented, "We're all victims this morning. They're attacking us in every way…. I'm going to have to move because this area is no longer good for me. I can't even leave my house to go to Walmart. I'm anxious and scared."

J. Sylus, a Haitian woman living in Columbus, Ohio, stresses that their fears are justified.

Sylus told the Times, "The reality is that these are people's lives. I understand the focus on the political, but what's important is the safety and security of our brethren, our people, who have left their country."

Read the Haitian Times' full report at this link.

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