When Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance last week spread false claims about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, there was widespread condemnation.

Since then they've distanced themselves from the comments — but members of South Florida’s Haitian community have been voicing their concerns.

"We are a community who have been subject to the accusations in the past. But this presidential race, they’re at their lowest," said North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme.

The city of North Miami has one of the largest concentrations of Haitians in the U.S., with South Florida home to hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants altogether.

After Trump’s debunked claims during the first presidential debate last week, some of the mayor’s constituents were fearful of potential threats here in South Florida, just as Haitians in Springfield were.

"They really had to have a conversation with their kids before their kids could go to school the following day," Desulme told WLRN.

While there haven't been any reported threats against Haitians in South Florida, over 30 bomb threats have been made against schools, hospitals and government buildings in Springfield.

"This is the turn of the Haitian community today," said Nahum Jean-Louis, a Haitian-American professor at Florida International University. "But a few years ago, it was the turn of the Mexicans. And it was also the turn of the Muslims. It’s about the "other."

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