FJB and KH.

'Send help': Ohio town grapples with chaos amid migrant influx'

'Car crashes, housing crisis, national attention add to stress'

<https://www.wnd.com/2024/09/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.

"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.

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."

"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.

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.

John Smyth wrote:
> FJB and KH.
>
> 'Send help': Ohio town grapples with chaos amid migrant influx'
>
> 'Car crashes, housing crisis, national attention add to stress'
>
> <https://www.wnd.com/2024/09/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.
>
>
>
> "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.
>
>
> 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."
>
>
> "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.
>
>
> 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.
>
do you ever complain about anything