Fear and frustration in Ohio city as political debate seizes on growing Haitian population

Springfield, Ohio (CNN) — Rose Goute Creole restaurant does a bustling business in Springfield, Ohio, with clientele drawn from across the city to its heaping displays of patties and donuts, and pots of perfumed rice, fried pork and fish, and golden plantains.

Rosena Jean Louis runs the front, offering free cups of a powerful black coffee and patiently managing a jostling lunch crowd. She and her coworkers are proud of the food they serve, feeding a Haitian expatriate community that has grown quickly in Springfield over the past few years.

“I’m always working at the restaurant,” she told CNN. “Everyone likes the food I cook.”

But ask about a lie that has taken hold in some corners of the internet that their countrymen are stealing and eating people’s pets, and Rosena rolls her eyes in exasperation.

“I said, ‘What? What is that?’” said the restaurant’s manager, Romane Pierre, when CNN visited on Wednesday, recalling his incredulity at the claim that went viral a few weeks ago and has been promoted by prominent national-level Republicans including the party’s presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance.

Local officials at the city and state level have repeatedly tried to end the rumor. Springfield officials have told press and city commission meetings that are no credible reports of animal abuse “by individuals within the immigrant community.”

The state’s highest Republican official, Gov. Mike DeWine, also dismissed the rumor firmly on Wednesday, noting there was “no evidence of that at all,” and Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said Thursday the false claims are “hurting our citizens and hurting our community,” adding it’s “frustrating” that some of the rhetoric is coming from Vance, a Republican from Ohio.

“Unfortunately right now, we have to focus on making sure this rhetoric is dispelled, that these rumors are just, they’re just not true. Springfield is a beautiful place, and your pets are safe in Springfield,” Rue told CNN’s Laura Coates.

Vance himself has acknowledged in a post on X that “it’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” but encouraged his followers to keep posting “cat memes” that allude to the dehumanizing claim. (Behind the cat meme appears to be a real incident involving a woman and a cat over 100 miles away in Canton, Ohio; a police lieutenant there told CNN he had no reason to believe the suspect was not a US citizen.)

Clark County Sheriff’s Office Major Scott Cultice said this week he and another county employee spent hours going “through about 11 months of calls” to dispatch, but founds no complaints about cats, dogs or other common pets. There was one call “that reported four Haitians were seen with geese” that could not be substantiated, Cultice said.

A Clark County Commissioner, Melanie Flax Wilt, described Cultice’s efforts as a “perfect example of how resources get diverted because of misinformation and rumors.” “[You] spent 13 hours looking through every call to determine that one call had been made and the officer was dispatched on a literal wild goose chase in which they end up with no real information,” she said.

A fast-growing city

According to the city of Springfield’s website, the total immigrant population is estimated at about 12,000 – 15,000 in Clark County, a significant portion of the population.

They are here legally, the city adds emphatically in an FAQ section on its website:

Q: Are the immigrants here legally and how did they qualify?
A: YES, Haitian immigrants are here legally, under the Immigration Parole Program. Once here, immigrants are then eligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Haiti is designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security for TPS. Current TPS is granted through February 3, 2026.

But malicious memes have tapped into real concerns — and in some cases, resentment — about the city’s growing pains.

In a July letter addressed to US Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Tim Scott of South Carolina, city manager Bryan Heck said that housing shortages have presented a “crisis” for the city as far back as 2018 and that the city’s expanding population has added stress.

That leads some here to worry about the public resources committed to the challenge.

One 28-year-old woman, who has lived in Springfield all her life, told CNN that she’s noticed a “drastic change” in the community over the last two years.

The woman, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about her views, told CNN that she had been divided about whether to vote for Trump in 2024, but ultimately decided that his leadership would better address her discomfort with the changes in the city.

According to the city, “Immigrants with (Temporary Protected Status) are legally qualified to receive financial assistance, health and nutrition services, employment and education services and housing services. Since immigrants granted TPS must apply for an Employment Authorization Document that can take up to several months to receive, they may need assistance until they can legally seek employment.”

Haitian workers play a significant role in the city’s economy, filling much-needed jobs in industry and health care among other fields, the city says. Programs such as TPS and, more recently, humanitarian parole, were introduced in response to natural disasters and political instability and violence in the Caribbean nation.

Back in Haiti, the Biden administration’s parole program — which requires a local sponsor — is seen as brain drain, drawing largely from the Caribbean nation’s highly educated and multilingual upper and middle classes.

Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a physician who speaks English, French, Spanish and Creole fluently, left Haiti after receiving threats. When he arrived in Springfield, he worked at Amazon, then found work as a nurse, where he could draw on his medical expertise.

It pains Dorsainvil that his career and credentials as a doctor are not recognized here, but he enjoys working with patients again, he said. He noted that he has friends in the community who are Americans and longtime Springfield residents, but told CNN that he also feels empathy for the people who feel their city is being “invaded.”

“They were not expecting this. I could feel the same way,” he said.

Later, taking stock of his new life and the politicization of Springfield’s Haitian community, Dorsainvil shrugged, seeing little choice in the matter. “If it was not a matter of death or life, it would be better to get back home,” he said.

Several other people in Springfield told CNN they were dismayed by the rhetoric and racism that they felt had been stirred up in the city for political purposes.

“When the Republicans don’t have a platform, they have to put their platform in areas that invoke fear, and that’s what they’re doing here with the immigration,” said Amy Cox, a mushroom farmer from nearby Dayton, who is running for this district’s congressional seat.

“It’s no secret that we need workers in these in these areas, especially manufacturing. You’re in Ohio. Ohio is a huge manufacturing hub, and we need people to fill these jobs, and we have always relied on immigration to fill jobs in this country.”

2023 crash becomes flashpoint

One family in Springfield has begged politicians to stop invoking their personal tragedy. A bus crash last year that involved a Haitian national killed an 11-year-old boy, an incident that was publicized this week by Vance on X, who said the child was “murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here.”

Clark’s father responded forcefully in a public statement at a Springfield city commission meeting this week.

“They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members. However, they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed, to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio,” the father, Nathan Clark, said.

In a statement later to CNN, he added: “There’s a lot of hate going around this country and it won’t stop until the division created by all politicians stops.  The attention brought to our case in the last few weeks is 100% politically motivated. We’ve been grieving for over a year now, so why are you suddenly concerned?  Politics.  Why are so many people sending thoughts and prayers when you should be practicing acceptance of differences?  Politics.”

At the same Springfield commission meeting, Dorsainvil’s older brother Viles, a community organizer, was trying to protect his family. “I tried to bring the voice of the Haitian community and let them know that we are here for communication and to try to have a peaceful Springfield,” he told CNN the next day.

He felt compelled to speak out because he fears that the inflammatory rhetoric about Haitians could one day escalate into actual violence – something that many Haitians in Springfield have already traveled hundred of miles to try to escape.

He is not the only one to sense a threat emerging in this quiet American city of green lawns and Victorian houses, he said.

“I received phone calls from friends and even from my family back home asking if I am safe,” he said. “Friends here are calling me, asking if they have to leave now, because things are getting out of hand.”

“I try to let them know that every new beginning comes with its challenges,” he said.

This story has been updated with comments from Springfield Mayor Rob Rue.

Reporting contributed by CNN’s McKenna Ewen.

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