Ohio’s Republican Governor Defends Haitian Immigrants: ‘Helped the Economy’

Ohio’s Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, defended Haitian immigrants in his state during a Sunday interview after former President Donald Trump, the GOP’s presidential nominee, and his running mate Ohio Senator JD Vance, have amplified discredited accusations against the community in recent days.
Trump and Vance have repeatedly promoted claims that Haitian immigrants, who are in the United States legally, have been “eating the pets” of their neighbors in Springfield, Ohio. During Trump’s debate with Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC News on Tuesday, Trump said dogs and cats were being eaten by the migrants, despite local officials already saying there were no credible reports of this happening.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs—the people that came in,” Trump claimed about Haitian immigrants. “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 shame.”
One of the debate moderators, ABC News’ David Muir, quickly fact-checked Trump’s claim and told viewers that the outlet had spoken to Springfield’s city manager about those allegations who told them that “there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
During an interview with ABC News’ This Week, DeWine was asked about the claims amplified by the Republican presidential ticket and conservative influencers online.
“Do you see any evidence, as governor of the state, that Haitian immigrants are eating pets?” host Martha Raddatz asked the Ohio Republican.
“No, absolutely none,” DeWine responded, who went on to speak favorably of the immigrant community, pointing out that they are in the country legally—and are not undocumented as many conservatives have suggested.
“I think it’s unfortunate that this came up,” the governor said. “Let me tell you what we do know though. What we know is that the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work. Ohio is on the move, and Springfield has really made a great resurgence, with a lot of companies coming in.”
DeWine explained that the Haitians are praised by the companies they work for.
“What the companies tell us is that they are very good workers. They’re very happy to have them there. And frankly, that’s helped the economy,” he said.
The governor went on to say that there are “some problems” that have arisen as a result of the large influx of new residents.
“When you go from a population of 58,000 and add 15,000 people onto that, you’re going to have some challenges and some problems,” DeWine said. “We’re addressing those. We’re working on those every single day.”
After half a century of economic decline, Springfield worked hard to lure back the manufacturing industry. The plan worked and began creating jobs that ended up attracting immigrants. Between 15,000 and 20,000 Haitian migrants have moved to the city, which had a population of just under 60,000 in 2020, over the space of four years, city officials say.
They are in the country legally, the City of Springfield’s Immigration FAQ page says, many under the Immigration Parole Program, which, under certain conditions, allows noncitizens to remain in the U.S. temporarily without meeting standard visa or immigration requirements.
Newsweek has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment on DeWine’s remarks via email on Sunday morning.
“There’s a lot of garbage on the internet and this is a piece of garbage that was simply not true, there’s no evidence of this at all,” DeWine told Raddatz, referring to the discredited claims about Haitians in Ohio.
“These are positive influences on our community in Springfield and any comment about that otherwise I think is hurtful and is not helpful to the city of Springfield and the people of Springfield,” the Republican said.
Springfield’s Mayor Rob Rue has criticized politicians spreading misinformation about his city.
“All these federal politicians that have negatively spun our city, they need to know they’re hurting our city, and it was their words that did it,” he told local ABC affiliate channel 6 WSYX.
Springfield has faced a wave of bomb threats since Vance and Trump began amplifying the discredited claims about Haitian immigrants in the city. Hospitals, government buildings and local public schools have all been targeted, causing significant disruptions and concerns within the community.
Vance was confronted with the mayor’s remarks during a Sunday interview with CNN’s State of the Union, but he rejected the idea that his promotion of the claims caused the bomb threats and condemned the threats. He also defended his right to spread the claims.
“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Vance told CNN’s Dana Bash in the interview.
Trump was also asked about the bomb threats by a reporter on Saturday.
“I don’t know what happened with the bomb threats,” the former president said. “I know that it’s been taken over by illegal migrants and that’s a terrible thing that happened.”
As DeWine told ABC News on Sunday, the Haitian immigrants in Springfield are in the U.S. legally.
A Springfield resident by the name of Erika Lee made a Facebook post alleging that local Haitian immigrants were “eating pets,” which led to significant national attention on the small city. Her post detailed the disappearance of a neighbor’s cat and included her neighbor’s suspicions that their Haitian residents were involved in the incident.
She admits that she had no direct evidence supporting such a claim and that the incident has left her ridden with guilt and anxiety due to the controversy it generated.
“It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen,” Lee told NBC News on Friday.
Update 9/15/24 at 12:54 p.m. ET: Additional comments from DeWine were added.