Residents of Springfield, Ohio, React to Influx of 20,000 Haitians

Haitians are asking people to give them more time to adapt to a new culture, but residents worry about their safety and the drain on resources.

A sign outside the Heritage Center of Clark County in Springfield, Ohio, on Sept. 11, 2024. Paul Vernon/AP Photo

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—They live on separate sides of Springfield, but Rhonda Zimmers and Melissa Skinner have noticed gradual changes to their neighborhoods in this Ohio city midway between Dayton and Columbus, starting around three years ago.

“Longtime residents who I used to see were no longer there. They moved out, and Haitian migrants moved in. They didn’t speak English,” Zimmers told The Epoch Times. “I started to see a lot of foot traffic on the streets. And you could see a dozen or more people coming and going from the houses. It was clear there were a lot of people living in the houses.”