Springfield, Ohio is a small manufacturing town that dates back to the year 1801. Over the last several decades, its population has been declining. Just a few years ago, it was less than 60,000 residents. But that all changed in 2021 when Joe Biden took office and changed U.S. immigration policy. Since then, some 20,000 Haitians have arrived in the city.
I went to Springfield last Wednesday, just hours after the former President Donald Trump referenced viral claims about Haitians eating cats, pets, and ducks.
Over the last few weeks, local residents have been attending weekly city council meetings, voicing their concerns over the city's ability to house and feed these migrants.
So far, the only outlet to confirm any story about Haitian migrants eating some sort of animal was The Federalist, which obtained this 911 call a few days ago.
After spending just a few hours in Springfield, it became clear to me that the duck and cat eating story was a distraction from more serious immigration issues facing the city.
Those issues include the housing crisis, crime, and the fact that these Haitian migrants are eligible for government benefits. These problems are especially pronounced because Springfield is not a wealthy town. Its residents aren’t rich. The median income is less than $30,000 a year.
The question of welfare is particularly interesting because many of these Haitian migrants are in the country under the Biden administration’s parole program, which was created to allow fast tracked entry for Cuban, Haitian, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan migrants. Before the parole program, migrants from these countries were crossing the southern border. Now, by flying them in, the Biden administration is able to claim illegal crossings are down among these groups.
Just today, new data from Customs and Border Protection shows that over half a million migrants from these countries were granted parole and allowed to enter the United States.
Under the Biden administration's parole program, migrants must prove that they have a financial sponsor here in the United States. According to the Department of Homeland Security, these migrants must “have a supporter in the United States who agrees to provide them with financial support for the duration of their parole in the United States.” Their sponsors must show proof through bank statements, W-2 forms, or other similar documentation to prove they will be able to care for the parolees.
Since many of these Haitians do have financial sponsors here in the United States, why then are they eligible for food stamps?
I spent my time in Springfield looking into that question, and here's what I found.
A 1996 federal law allows many immigrants in the United States, including those granted parole, to receive federal and state welfare benefits. The Migration Policy Institute, a center-left immigration think tank, has a list and breakdown of all of those benefits here.
For parolees, benefits include things like Medicaid, Section 8 housing vouchers, federal student aid, SNAP, supplemental security income, Medicare, and even Obamacare subsidies. Some Haitians and Cubans are fast-tracked to receive these benefits and can avoid a five-year waiting period that other immigrants face.Most parolees must be in the United States for at least a year to receive benefits.
One would think that these Haitian migrants shouldn't qualify for welfare benefits given that they are supposed to have financial sponsors.
Rose Joseph, a Haitian woman who runs a charity in Springfield called the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, confirmed to me that many of the Haitians in Springfield on parole receive Medicaid and food stamps, and her organization helps them apply for it.
Other Haitians I spoke to in the nearby area confirmed the same thing. One Haitian man named Merrion told me he knew several people who were receiving welfare benefits. He said he believes the benefits amount to several hundred dollars per month.
Later on in our conversation, Merrion explained he had been living in Springfield for about a year. He fled Connecticut after racking up too many driving tickets, and hoped to get a fresh start in Ohio.
A spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Public Safety told me that last year, there were 1,300 Haitian immigrants in Clark County with driver's licenses and over 2,000 with identification cards. But this year, those numbers combined have more than doubled. There are now over 2,300 Haitian immigrants with driver's licenses and over 4,600 with IDs.
The spokesperson assured me that in order to get a driver's license, these immigrants must undergo all the same testing and training required of Ohioans. Immigrants are required to take the skills and maneuverability test to be able to, “understand highway warnings, traffic signs, or directions given in the English language.”
On my second day in Springfield, I stopped at the local welfare office which is run by the county. I saw and tried speaking with several dozen Haitians go in and out of the building, but none of them were willing to speak to us. The government staff would also not allow us inside to talk to their staff or to Haitians inside the building.
One journalist, a man named Tyler Oliveira, did actually make his way into the building. There, a police officer on duty told him that the ratio of Haitians to native Springfield residents in line each day is nine to one, Haitian. The officer also told him the city has hired translators to help the Haitians apply for and receive their benefits.
While I was trying to interview Haitians, this same police officer implied that the area wasn't safe and warned me not to leave my things unattended for “obvious reasons.”
Since Trump’s comments at the debate, the City of Springfield’s communication with the media has been almost nonexistent. The one thing the city has commented on is the supposed bomb threat that occurred last Friday. I was at the welfare office when the bomb threats were first reported. Despite being over a mile away, the county employees forced everyone off the property.
Several reporters in town informed me the city’s spokeswoman wasn’t responding to any media inquiries that were critical of the Haitian migrant situation. I tried reaching out to her and to Springfield Police, for more information on the alleged Haitian driving accidents, and other relevant crime statistics.
The city has yet to respond to my requests, which might be a violation of Ohio federal law. Ohio law mandates that all state government departments respond to requests in a timely manner, something that the Springfield Police Department has failed to do in my case. When I went to the Springfield Police Department in person, I was turned away from the records office.
Specifically, I was looking for statistics on noncitizen crime (whether Springfield tracks citizenship status during arrests), overall crime statistics to see if crime increased greater than the rate of population growth, and police reports on traffic accidents.
Though the City of Springfield has not responded to my inquiries, I did find the following.
According to the FBI, in 2020, the Springfield Police Department reported 338 violent crimes. Two years later, after Joe Biden's immigration policy was in full swing, the number of crimes had doubled in Springfield to over 700. Crime was growing at a rate greater than the city's population increase.
Robberies were up nearly 30%. Aggravated assaults skyrocketed from 171 in 2020 to over 500 in 2022, nearly a 200% increase.
One Springfield resident who works at the hotel I was staying at told me that Haitian drivers “don't know what a stop sign is, don't know what a red light is.” Another man I spoke to outside of a grocery store told me he witnessed three car accidents at the same intersection in a span of just a few hours.
A recent report in Reuters last week claimed that much of what I heard and saw in Springfield is true. Here’s what the outlet said about Springfield
Enrollment in Medicaid and federal food assistance and welfare programs surged. So did rents and vehicle accidents, including a collision last year when a Haitian without a U.S. driver's license drove into a school bus, killing 11-year-old Aiden Clark and injuring 26 other children.
The number of affordable housing vouchers fell as landlords moved to market-based rents that were rising in the face of higher demand, a blow to existing residents relying on them.
As Reuters notes, there are individuals and organizations that stand to benefit financially from immigration crisis in the United States, with government contracts and vouchers.
Catholic Charities is one of those organizations. I visited the local Catholic Charities office in Springfield, but it was closed while I was there.
Next door, however, I found something perhaps even more interesting, an immigration mill of sorts. U.S. citizenship and legal status for sale.
A sign on the door in English and Creole claimed to offer work permits, Temporary Protected Status, a “family package,” citizenship, and political asylum in prices ranging from $250 to $1,500.
Who knew American citizenship was that cheap?
I spoke to the paralegal who runs the office and he contradicted his own advertisement, claiming that he only helps Haitians process their TPS and work permits. While he would likely argue that he's only charging to fill out these forms and process them with the government, the point is why are we allowing people to profit from our immigration system like this?
There are many other cities and towns across the United States facing similar problems to Springfield, and they aren't getting the right attention from our leaders, our politicians, or the media.
Regardless of what you think of Trump's comments about Springfield, one thing is indisputably true: Americans need to start talking about these places, places like Springfield, before it's too late.
VIDEO: Haitian parolees getting welfare, driver's licenses