What Is Really Happening in Springfield, Ohio?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns the national need to control the number of immigrants allowed to enter the United States. The number should be kept below the number that can be handled safely and for the betterment of Americans already in our communities.

The last sentence obviously does not apply to Springfield, Ohio. The Haitian refugees may not be eating pets, but they are certainly disrupting the lives of the American residents of the city. Robert Schmad and Megan Brock wrote the following in an article for the Daily Caller News Foundation, which was published in The Daily Signal. 

Reports of shoplifting and vehicle theft increased considerably in Springfield, Ohio, following the arrival of thousands of Haitian refugees, according to data obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation through a records request.

The town, which had a population of 58,622 in 2020, has taken in between 12,000 and 20,000 Haitian refugees over the past three years, marking a population increase of between 20.4% and 34.1%. From 2021 to 2023, Springfield also saw a 51.5% jump in motor vehicle theft reports and a 112.8% spike in reports of shoplifting, data provided by the Springfield Police Division shows.

Springfield residents previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the influx of Haitians has resulted in an uptick in car accidents, increased housing prices, and strained public service…. [City officials asked for federal help in July.]

Large numbers of Haitians began arriving in Springfield to meet the demand for labor after the city’s chamber of commerce successfully attracted new businesses to the city, according to The New York Times. While the migrants have attracted the ire of some residents, many are paying taxes to support the community….

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has set aside $2.5 million to help Springfield deal with the migrant surge and announced last week that he would deploy the Ohio State Highway Patrol to assist with traffic enforcement in the municipality. The issue of poor driving among refugees became a flashpoint in the community after a Haitian national driving a minivan without a license swerved in front of a school bus in August 2023, killing an 11-year-old boy and injuring roughly a dozen other students.

One Springfield resident, a pastor, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the town had accidents every day as a result of the influx of Haitians. A local towing employee confirmed that there had been an uptick in wrecks.

However, with all the problems in Springfield, Ohio, there are only two police reports of animal cruelty in 2021 with none afterwards. The reported murder and assault numbers remained “unchanged between 2021 and 2023.” The residents of Springfield, Ohio, are begging for help, and Trump’s comment about Haitians eating pets focused the national spotlight on the problems there. This attention may be helpful to them.