# Springfield, OH immigrants: what's the actual story? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 13, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220 "2024-09-13T17:14:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/81 "2024-09-15T17:20:35Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And what does it matter that the car that was hit contained the driver’s seven-year-old autistic daughter? Of course they had to throw in _something_ for more drama. Otherwise people might not look at the photos and see how insignificant the accident was. For all we know she saw his turn signal and sped up so he couldn’t get ahead of her. Who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/82 "2024-09-15T17:30:00Z")
And if 20% of the town now consists of Haitian immigrants, we would expect them to be involved in over a third of all traffic accidents in the town. So really, all the story is saying is that Springfield, like everywhere else in the country, sometimes has traffic accidents. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/83 "2024-09-15T19:31:38Z")
[Moderating] > [@md-2000](#): > > If there’s a psycho dismembering cats… ? Isn’t that how serial killers get their start, killing the neighbourhood pets? Again, Factual Questions, so please stick to the relevant facts. The relevant fact is that there isn’t a psycho dismembering cats in Springfield. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/84 "2024-09-16T14:07:47Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > 1 they were roadkill. > > 2 there is nothing wrong in Ohio law in picking up roadkill geese; no permit required. > > 3 there is no evidence that the guy was planning on eating them. > > 4 the guy was not a Haitian immigrant > > 5 it didn’t happen in Springfield, but in Columbus, 40 miles away from Springfield. . But this is how this shit starts. Every time. Some pet vanishes or gets torn up, which is just life, and then the rumor mill begins, you hear it from a friend, you tell another friend, and pretty soon “routine life event” is a massive panic. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/85 "2024-09-16T14:32:54Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Some pet vanishes or gets torn up, which is just life, and then the rumor mill begins, you hear it from a friend, you tell another friend, and pretty soon “routine life event” is a massive panic. We should expect to see this fiasco added to the historical list of moral panics soon: > **[Moral panic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_panic)** > > A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usually perpetuated by moral entrepreneurs and mass media coverage, and exacerbated by politicians and lawmakers. Moral panic can give rise to new laws aimed at controlling the community. > Stanley Cohen, who developed the term, states that moral panic happens when "a condition, episode... ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/86 "2024-09-16T14:52:57Z")
I heard an piece about the immigrant population on NPR. Haiti has been such a disaster for so long that many of the immigrants aren’t vaccinated against measles, whooping cough, etc., so the state government is working to get that done. Also, they are overwhelming the local medical facilities – it may have been years since they had a checkup while back in Haiti, so again, the state is sending in nurses and doctors. Overall, it will likely end up being a financial boon to Springfield, with the influx of medical professionals. I understand it had been on the decline, so a new group of workers and services users should add nicely to the local economy. I think that’s the only actual story. The pets part is false. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/87 "2024-09-16T20:39:30Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Overall, it will likely end up being a financial boon to Springfield Paul Krugman came through with the actual financial story about Springfield. Here’s a [gift link](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/16/opinion/springfield-immigration.html?unlocked_article_code=1.LE4.2mAK.4GpSLftZmrAh&smid=url-share). Long story short, immigrants can be an economic boon for a small city, although they will put pressure on existing education and health care facilities. Immigrants can create 1.2 local jobs per immigrant in a small town. ---
**Author:** ![edvansickle1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@edvansickle1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edvansickle1)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/88 "2024-09-16T21:35:53Z")
Haitian immigrants or at least certain ones have special status against deportation because they demonstrated a realistic fear of death or persecution in their homeland. They, like nearly all new arrivals in the U.S. tend to form or join communities of people from the same ethnic background. There was never any truth to the story that they had been eating the pets of other residents. It is a story invented by an ignorant person who now wants to disavow it. > **off-topic** > > However, once a story vilifies ANY immigrant who isn’t white, the Trump MAGA crowd goes into overdrive spewing hate and magnifying the outrage for all they can get out of it. It is literally the American version of Nazism. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/89 "2024-09-16T21:59:07Z")
[Moderating] Again, this is FQ, which is not the place for sharing one’s opinions of those involved in this situation. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/90 "2024-09-17T00:01:54Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Immigrants can create 1.2 local jobs per immigrant in a small town. I heard something similar on NPR a few weeks ago. The influx of new residents can result in _more_ jobs being available. Why? Because a person who comes to a city and takes a job is also a customer to other jobs. So they increase demand. > [@](#): > > CLEMENS: If there’s a marketplace and bananas are $3 a bunch and you flood that market with bananas, it would be kind of strange if the price of bananas didn’t get bid down. But bananas just sit there and be a banana. They don’t do anything else. > > ARONCZYK: (Laughter) Right. > > CLEMENS: But immigrants are not like that. Immigrants buy stuff. > > ARONCZYK: Right. Bananas aren’t buying anything. > > CLEMENS: They’re just bananas. They just hang out and be bananas. > > ARONCZYK: Immigrants are not bananas. They buy stuff. They start businesses. They do all kinds of things that help shape the economy… > **['Planet Money': Do immigrants really take jobs and lower wages?](https://www.npr.org/2024/07/11/nx-s1-4992292/planet-money-do-immigrants-really-take-jobs-and-lower-wages)** > > The Planet Money team looks to the economic research for an answer. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/91 "2024-09-17T00:29:06Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > The New York Post breathlessly reported that a Haitian immigrant had a (gasp!) fender-bender in Springfield. The other point to this is that there are reporters (or stringers, or self-proclaimed “journalists”) hanging out in Springfield, just waiting for trouble to break out so they can pounce on it. I don’t trust the worst of them not to stir up trouble to get a good story. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/92 "2024-09-18T19:30:55Z")
I have to mention a quote from JD Vance in which he admits the story is made up. `“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” he added, failing to mention that the false narrative was intended to advance his electoral goals.’ ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/93 "2024-09-18T19:58:12Z")
Springfield for Hatians and calumny! ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/94 "2024-09-18T23:47:30Z")
JD Vance pointed to an August police report where a woman accused Haitians of taking her cat. The WSJ reported that happily the cat in question was found mere days after she contacted the cops: it was hiding in the woman’s basement. > **[Trump Supporter Whose Police Report Fueled Cat-Eating Rumor Found Pet In...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/woman-who-made-haitian-cat-stealing-police-report-found-pet-at-home_n_66eaf106e4b00648275b86da)** > > The rumor gained national attention after Donald Trump accused Haitian migrants in Ohio of stealing and eating neighborhood pets during last week's presidential debate. Also, the 20,000 figure appears to be inflated. [It’s probably closer to 4000](https://jabberwocking.com/ok-maybe-there-are-4000-haitians-in-springfield/). Or [maybe 10,000](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-very-important-read). But the OP wanted to know the actual story. Here’s a good roundup, from Sep 9: > **[What’s really happening in Springfield? - Kevin Drum](https://jabberwocking.com/whats-really-happening-in-springfield/)** > > This goes into the file of sentences you never expected to see: The Springfield Police Division said Monday morning they have received no reports related to pets being stolen and eaten. If you have no idea what this is all about, count your... The Haitians are here legally, as a result of, > …the Cuban Haitian Entrant Program _of 1980_. They moved to Springfield because they learned that it had lots of good jobs. “Haitians who heard that the Springfield area boasted well-paying, blue-collar jobs and a low cost of living poured in, and employers were eager to hire and train the new work force.” In addition to a few errant Facebook posts, the pot was stirred by [the neo Nazi group Blood Tribe](https://newrepublic.com/post/185950/neo-nazi-origins-trump-migrant-pet-eating-conspiracy), whose representative spoke during a city council meeting and who made up slurs on Gab. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/95 "2024-09-19T02:00:06Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > The WSJ reported that happily the cat in question was found mere days after she contacted the cops: it was hiding in the woman’s basement. Just as @thorny_locust predicted several days ago: > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Also, of course, we don’t know how long this mystery cat had been gone. Cat may have been under a bush in the back yard eating a mouse, and may now be snoozing on its human’s bed, blissfully unaware of this whole mess. 😀 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/96 "2024-09-19T02:37:03Z")
Until then: > **[Tom the Dancing Bug: The Haitians, of Springfield, USA](https://boingboing.net/2024/09/17/tom-the-dancing-bug-the-haitians-of-springfield-usa.html)** > > Announcing the brand new Tom the Dancing Bug book: Volume 8 of The Complete Tom the Dancing Bug book program is "IT'S THE GREAT STORM, TOM THE DANCING BUG!" Now accepting orders… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/97 "2024-09-19T03:32:28Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > JD Vance pointed to an August police report where a woman accused Haitians of taking her cat. The WSJ reported that happily the cat in question was found mere days after she contacted the cops: it was hiding in the woman’s basement. So the cat _deliberately_ hid in the basement to substantiate JD Vance’s narrative. I _knew_ it; the cats (all of them) are Republicans. Fortunately the dogs (all of them) are Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/98 "2024-09-19T03:39:16Z")
If so, as it’s [been observed,](https://x.com/tomowenmorgan/status/1634892949853962240?lang=en) they sit in the Libertarian wing of the Right ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/99 "2024-09-19T16:40:50Z")
Here’s a fairly good article, sprinkled with a bit of opinion, on the immigrant situation in Springfield. The reporter came to Springfield to find out more about the “cats and dogs situation” but came away with some deeper info about the immigrants themselves. > **[Exclusive: Feds and State AG Investigate an Alleged Human Trafficking Empire...](https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/375011/feds-and-state-ag-investigate-an-alleged-human-trafficking-empire-run-in-springfield-ohio/)** > > Dispatches from Springfield, Ohio – The story in this town is not about cats or dogs. It’s about mules. It’s a twin tragedy of migrant workers from Haiti exploited and locals from Springfield marginalized. Just about every week since 2019, First... ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/100 "2024-09-19T18:15:48Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So the cat _deliberately_ hid in the basement to substantiate JD Vance’s narrative. I _knew_ it; the cats (all of them) are Republicans. Fortunately the dogs (all of them) are Democrats. > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > If so, as it’s [been observed,](https://x.com/tomowenmorgan/status/1634892949853962240?lang=en) they sit in the Libertarian wing of the Right Well of course, that’s why they feign indifference to the Democratic cat ladies who own them. (Sorry) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220.md?page=6)