Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance is pushing false allegations about Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
On Monday (September 9), Vance shared a video of himself from a July Senate Committee hearing, where he read a letter from Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck, who wrote about the city's struggles to keep up with housing its growing Haitian immigrant population.
“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio," the Ohio senator said alongside the video. "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?”
Vance amplified a now-debunked claim originally made last month at a Springfield City Commission meeting by resident Anthony Harris, who alleged that Haitian immigrants were slaughtering park ducks for food.
Video of Harris' allegations was spread on social media and further shared by national figures including Charlie Kirk and Elon Musk.
The false allegations come after the Biden administration expanded the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Haiti in June, which has allowed roughly 309,000 Haitians to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation. According to Springfield police, between 12,000 and 15,000 Haitians are living in the city legally under the TPS program.
Springfield Police confirmed that they've received no reports of anyone abducting or eating pets. Springfield's city manager also said the false allegations are distracting from the city's real issues.
“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. Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic,” Heck said in a statement to The Hill.
“Yes this clearly takes away from the letter’s point that we are struggling with housing, resources for our schools, and an overwhelmed healthcare system.”
A spokesperson for Vance said the vice presidential nominee made the tweet "based on what he is hearing" from "concerned citizens in Springfield."
“Senator Vance has received a high volume of calls and emails over the past several weeks from concerned citizens in Springfield: his tweet is based on what he is hearing from them. The city has faced an influx of 15,000-20,000 Haitian migrants over the past four years, stressing public resources and leading to housing shortages, all thanks to Kamala Harris’s policy of extending temporary protected status designations,” the spokesperson said.
“Many residents have contacted Senator Vance to share their concerns over crime and traffic accidents, and to express that they no longer feel safe in their own homes. Unlike the liberal media, JD takes his constituents’ concerns seriously."
Erik Crew, a staff attorney at the Haitian Bridge Alliance, said in a statement: “This is the same old anti-Black playbook that we’ve seen for hundreds of years in Ohio being rolled out to divide and create hate, especially around election times."
“White supremacist and anti-democratic movements have always used the claim that so-called Black savages are coming to destroy, especially when political power is up for grabs. This is no different. This time they are saying it is Haitians, and this time it is being used to try to score political points around immigration as well.”
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