During the presidential debate on Tuesday, Donald Trump claimed members of the Haitian immigrant population in Springfield, Ohio, are "eating the pets of the people that live there.” | Alex Brandon/AP
By Emmy Martin
09/11/2024 05:49 PM EDT
A city manager in Ohio and the father of a young boy killed in a school bus accident are pushing back on a right-wing campaign against Haitian migrants in their community that has been fueled by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance.
Bryan Heck, the city manager of Springfield, Ohio, criticized false claims about migrants, which have been spread by Trump and Vance, while Nathan Clark, whose 11-year-old was killed in an accident involving a Haitian driver last year, said both men should apologize for using his death to score political points.
“This needs to stop now,” Clark said at a public hearing Tuesday. “They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members. However, they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed, to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio.”
Their remarks come in response to the surprising emergence of Springfield, northeast of Dayton, in the national political debate over migration after about 15,000 people from Haiti have settled in the city of less than 60,000 over the past four years.
Trump and Vance, along with other politicians and right-wing commentators have seized...
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