Ohio AG Warns Springfield Not ‘Set Up’ to Have Thousands of Immigrants

‘If it could happen to Springfield, it could happen to any town in America,’ he said.
Ohio AG Warns Springfield Not ‘Set Up’ to Have Thousands of Immigrants
Welcome to Springfield signage is displayed on the Interstate 70 overpass in Springfield, Ohio, on Sept. 16, 2024. Luke Sharrett/Getty Images
Jack Phillips
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Ohio’s attorney general on Tuesday warned that Springfield, the city at the center of a political controversy that has erupted on social media, is in need of resources after an influx of Haitian immigrants.

People in Springfield “need help” because it is “not set up to take 20,000 people to stay here for a long time,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told Fox News.

“And I understand that there’s also some frustration in the city because they’re good-hearted people, they’ve tried to be kind, they’ve tried to be supportive of folks that are clearly fleeing a terrible situation in Haiti, but they feel like they’re being left to handle it on their own and I don’t blame them,” he said.

He later said that in regards to immigrants arriving in Springfield and Ohio in general, “there has to be a limiting principle here,” adding that he’s “looking for a way to get this in front” of a court to render a decision.

“If it could happen to Springfield, it could happen to any town in America,” the attorney general said. “There has to be some kind of limit to the federal government’s authority to simply continue letting people in and allowing them to run free in the country and congregate in a place like Springfield that’s not prepared to handle it.”

In recent weeks, online claims have emerged about Springfield’s Haitian immigrant population. Some locals have alleged that the immigrants have eaten pets, geese, or ducks., which was echoed by Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as well as by Yost.

But Springfield’s mayor and other officials in the city have said that they have received no reports of pet eating and that the claims are not true. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, also said the claims aren’t valid.

Vance, in an interview on Sunday with CNN, said that he is standing by the pet-eating claims amid criticism, saying that he is only echoing statements made by his constituents in Springfield.

“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. 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,” Vance told the channel.

Wittenberg University, a college in Springfield, said that it canceled all athletic events through Sept. 22 due to what it described as security concerns.

On Tuesday, Wittenberg wrote on social media that road and home games were canceled because of “ongoing security concerns,”  a day after the college said that all classes would be remote during the week.

While the college did not elaborate on the security concerns, Ohio officials have said that alleged bomb threats have been made to various locations across Springfield.

Amid the bomb threat reports, DeWine described them as “hoaxes” in a Monday news conference, adding that the calls came from “overseas.”

“Thirty-three threats; Thirty-three hoaxes,” he said. “I want to make that very, very clear. None of these had any validity at all.

“Some of them are coming from one particular country.” He did reveal which country.

DeWine said that Ohio highway troopers will be stationed at city schools amid the bomb threat hoaxes. Officers will be sweeping buildings before students and staff arrive on campus, he said.

Earlier this summer, the Department of Homeland Security extended the designation for Temporary Protected Status for Haitians who have been residing in the U.S. since June 3, 2024.
Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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