Ahead of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris first presidential debate, prominent Republicans, including the Trump campaign and his VP candidate JD Vance, are spreading false claims that Haitian immigrants residing in Ohio city are consuming pets and local wildlife.
The lurid and racist social media posts claim, without any proof, that Haiti migrants in Ohio are stealing pets and local wildlife such as ducks and geese to butcher them for food. An X account for the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, shared AI-generated photos of Trump holding and rescuing kittens and ducks, framing him as the town's rescuer.
Republican senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, posted an image of two cats hugging each other due to fear with the caption, “Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don't eat us.”
Vance, the Ohio Senator and Trump's vice presidential candidate, has been speaking out against Haitian migrants in Ohio for months. Targetting Harris ahead of the debate, he tweeted on Monday: “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”
In his post, Vance provided a video of himself during a July Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee meeting, reading a letter from Springfield city manager Bryan Heck regarding the city's issues in providing housing to surging Haitian immigrant community.
These reports were mostly based on social media posts shared by national figures such as Charlie Kirk and Elon Musk.
Meanwhile, Heck called the claims against immigrants bogus, stating that they were diverting attention away from Springfield's real difficulties.
“In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community. Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes,” he said in an email to The Hill.
On Monday, the Trump team sent out an email slamming Harris for the disturbance in Springfield, claiming, “It's all coming to your city if Kamala Harris is elected in November.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way. Beginning on day one, President Trump will begin the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history – because he’ll always put America, and Americans, FIRST.”
Republican Dave Yost, Ohio's attorney general, declared in a press release on Monday that he would utilise the resources at his disposal to look at legal options to prevent the federal government from bringing an infinite number of migrants to Ohio communities. In order to assist the migrants, he said that his office will “exhaust all possibilities.” He further mentioned that the migrants were allegedly “killing wildlife for food,” was among other complainst received from the locals.
According to Springfield News-Sun, police have received “no reports” in regards to pets being stolen and eaten.
The false information regarding immigrants in Springfield is being spread by the Trump campaign, which has made immigration a focal point and linked Harris and Joe Biden to communities that are unprepared to receive migrants crossing the southern border.
As per the police-managed frequently asked questions page, around 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians are lawfully residents of Springfield, Missouri, under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program.
Erik Crew, a Cincinnati native of Springfield ancestry and a staff attorney for the Haitian Bridge Alliance, spoke out about the whole fiasco, stating that it is the “same old anti-Black playbook” that Ohio has been using for hundreds of years to sow division and hatred, particularly during election seasons.
“The fact is the rumors about Haitians in Springfield and pets have already been debunked, but we won’t stop hearing them because certain people will want to keep spreading them as the election nears.”
Source: Hindustan Times