‘Send help’: Ohio town grapples with chaos amid migrant influx

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Residents of a suburban Ohio town currently under the national spotlight say they’ve been dealing with the consequences of mass immigration for years, including a housing crunch, a rise in car wrecks and other alleged crimes.

The latest wave of national attention began with a viral social media post claiming a pet cat in Springfield, Ohio, had been found hanging from a branch near a Haitian neighbor’s home and was being carved up for a meal. The rumors gained further notoriety when President Donald Trump — citing claims he said he saw on television — also said pet dogs and cats were being eaten during the presidential debate Tuesday.

The Daily Caller News Foundation visited Springfield and interviewed a number of residents about the situation. While no locals said they have personally witnessed any individuals eating house pets, they were quick to say the massive influx of migrants has become a problem for a multitude of reasons, with people personally attesting to a housing crisis and others saying they have witnessed public sex acts.

“Twenty-five thousand people have invaded our sleepy little community here in Springfield,” Barron Seelig, a local non-denominational pastor who is involved in helping feed and provide assistance to the town’s homeless community, told the DCNF. Seelig says locating housing for the homeless has become incredibly difficult with the rise in the immigrant population.

Barron Seelig. DCNF Image

“We’re 55,000 people here and they sent an additional 25,000 people here,” Seelig continued, referring to the tens of thousands of Haitian migrants who have settled in the town in the past several years. “Our resources are taxed and people’s nerves are on end.”

The pastor — who spoke while at a local tow yard — said most of the wrecked cars in the lot were there because Haitian nationals “don’t know how to drive,” and claimed that there were accidents every day because of it. A towing employee standing nearby, who wished not to be identified, confirmed that he had experienced an uptick in wrecks over the past year.

While he has been outspoken about the housing crisis being caused by the population spike — even taking his case directly to city council meetings — Seelig and others were quick to condemn the presence of “out of town” voices aligned with racist groups who have used the crisis to push their own agenda. Some media outlets have attempted to tie one group to concerns about the immigration influx.

Out here in Springfield, Ohio. One resident says he hasn’t witnessed any pet eating, but he’s thankful for the national attention because the town does need help. pic.twitter.com/xO48Hwm7Ii

— Jason Hopkins (@jasonhopkinsdc) September 12, 2024

Local criticism of immigration into Springfield began to grow when Hermanio Joseph, a Haitian national driving a minivan without a license, swerved in front of a school bus in August 2023, resulting in the death of 11-year-old Aiden Clark and injuring about a dozen other students on their first day of school. A judge in May sentenced Joseph to more than 13 years in prison for the crash.

Long before Springfield was thrust into the national spotlight, local leaders were already sounding the alarm on the growing consequences of accepting such a large population in a relatively short amount of time.

The city manager of Springfield, Bryan Heck, delivered a letter in July to GOP Sens. J.D. Vance of Ohio and Tim Scott of South Carolina that asked for federal assistance. As many as 20,000 Haitian nationals have settled into the town in the last four years alone, creating a housing crisis that will leave Springfield unable to meet its housing needs unless help is provided, according to Heck’s letter.

Zillow data also indicate that median rental prices in the town have spiked over the past year, making it more expensive to live in an area that is historically known for its low cost of living.

For Springfield’s most destitute residents, the housing crisis has already arrived.

“I’ve been here since about March,” said one homeless woman who had just arrived at a local soup kitchen with her daughter to grab a free meal. “We’ve been trying to find a place, but we can’t find a place at all because the Haitians always get all the housing.”

This homeless woman says she’s struggled to find housing in Springfield, and directly blamed the migrant influx into the town. pic.twitter.com/CmxyKuuLQy

— Jason Hopkins (@jasonhopkinsdc) September 12, 2024

“People like us — me, my daughter, my husband — we can’t find housing because all the housing has gone to them,” the woman continued. “I had never in my life seen a Haitian, didn’t even know what a Haitian was, until I came here to Springfield and it’s ridiculous.”

Soup kitchen in Springfield, Ohio. DCNF image.

Beyond bad driving, other common complaints by locals about their new Haitian neighbors were constant late-night parties and public debauchery. One man who spoke to the DCNF, James, claimed he has observed from his house migrants picking up women and having sex with them out in public, sometimes even in front of children.

The Springfield police did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF regarding claims of increased car wrecks, public sex acts or pet animal consumption. However, local police stated Monday that they have received no reports of pet animals being stolen or eaten.

This local man claims he’s witnessed public sex acts outside of his home in Springfield, adding that it’s happening “everyday.” pic.twitter.com/rMBHIwVHy2

— Jason Hopkins (@jasonhopkinsdc) September 12, 2024

Haitian nationals enjoy benefits not afforded to many other foreign nationals currently living in the United States. The Biden-Harris administration in June announced an extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 300,00 Haitians, giving them deportation protections in the U.S. as their home nation continues to experience upheaval.

The White House already designated Haitians with TPS in 2021 and renewed it in late 2022. The latest order gave Haitian nationals deportation protection until early 2026, according to the announcement.

Haitians are included in a mass-parole initiative known as the CHNV program, which allows hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela legal authorization to fly into the country. The program was temporarily paused due to the discovery of widespread fraud by applicants, but has since relaunched.

There have been other reported issues beyond housing needs. During a Clark County Commissioners meeting in July, one witness testified that because Haitians culturally only visit the hospital when they are about to die and not to have babies, emergency response births have increased roughly 10% because Haitians are waiting until the last minute to go to the hospital.

The crisis in Springfield has caught the attention of state leaders, with the Ohio attorney general announcing on Monday that his office is investigating how to stop the Biden-Harris administration from resettling massive numbers of migrants into the state. GOP Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday that he was sending $2.5 million dollars to help Springfield deal with the crisis and address the dangerous driving situation.

“To address the increase in dangerous driving in Springfield by inexperienced Haitian drivers and all others who disregard traffic laws, Governor DeWine directed the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) to support the Springfield Police Department with traffic enforcement,” the governor’s announcement stated.

As for the local government of Springfield, it’s not immediately clear what their reaction is to the sudden national attention. A spokesperson for the city government did not respond to a request for comment via email from the DCNF.

Additionally, a staffer for the city directed the DCNF to leave contact information on a piece of paper and leave when approached at City Hall.

Others have noted that Springfield was troubled before the migrants began to arrive.

The town’s poverty rate was twice the national average in 2022 as Haitians began arriving in large numbers, according to NPR. Seelig described Springfield as “one of the highest in the nation” for drug overdose deaths in recent years. The pastor reiterated that the town is unable to handle the crisis on its own.

“We’re tired — help,” Seelig said when asked what message he wanted to send to the country. “Send help. Help us fix this.”

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