LEILA FADEL, HOST:
On the debate stage, former President Donald Trump repeated a dehumanizing claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people's pets. The moderator, ABC's David Muir, stepped in.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DAVID MUIR: There have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.
DONALD TRUMP: Well, I've seen people on television.
MUIR: Let me just say here - this is...
FADEL: It's a story that started on a far-right social platform, before members of a white supremacist group picked it up, and then Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance shared it. What is true is the small city of Springfield, Ohio, is seeing an influx of mostly Haitian migrants - over 20,000 in the last four years. To discuss the actual issues in this town, we turn to Republican Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine. Governor DeWine, thanks for joining us.
MIKE DEWINE: Good morning. Good to be with you. Thank you.
FADEL: Is there any truth to the rumors amplified by Trump and his vice presidential nominee?
DEWINE: Well, Mayor Rue, the mayor of Springfield, says they have no credible evidence of that at all. You know, there's a lot of freaky stuff up on the internet, so I think, as you pointed out, that's really where it all started.
FADEL: Now, it is true that Springfield in recent years has seen an influx of Haitian and other migrants, and it's a small city. We heard the city manager, Bryan Heck, say yesterday that he won't let this rumor distract from addressing the real issues - strains on schools, health care, first responders. What does the city need, and how is the state helping?
DEWINE: Well, you're right. We should look at the big issues that Springfield is facing. Let me kind of define them. One is the health care challenge. You take 15,000 people who come in and come from a poor country like Haiti - they've just not really had good medical care, most of them. The last two years, you know, since the president of Haiti was killed, we've seen a lot of doctors who were in Haiti who have fled Haiti. So there's many - there's a lot fewer doctors. So you take that population, and, you know, we have so many people that are unvaccinated, so there's just a lot of work to do.
What we're seeing in Springfield is the Haitians are coming forward. They're coming forward to primary care physicians, but, you know, what has happened is this slows down the ability of primary care physicians to deal with everyone. So by now, we have put $2.5 million in. We already - we're sending nurses in. We're continuing to ramp that up dramatically. Primary care, I think, is an essential point because it affects everybody in the city, not just the Haitians. If you have a significantly unvaccinated population, you know, there's a potential you're going to see whooping cough, you're going to see measles. And that's a big fear that we have.
I think the second big problem that people are really seeing in Springfield is in driving. Again, I've had some experience in Haiti. Fran and I have been down there, over the years, I think about 25 times. We worked with a school down there. And what you see in Haiti is that, you know, many people - most people don't drive. And laws in Haiti in regard to driving are fundamentally different than they are in the United States. So we have people who are not used to driving. Ohio allows someone who is 18 to - if they can pass a driver's test, they don't have to take any kind of driver's training, so we've got some real problems out on the road. We've sent in the highway patrol. They started yesterday. But we have to do more, and we are trying to do more in regard to basic driver's training.
I think the third problem - housing. And this is a much - you know, much more difficult problem to deal with, but it's a big problem that's driving up the rents in Springfield for everybody.
FADEL: I want to ask - you know, we spoke to Haitian Americans, Haitian migrants, who feel afraid after what was said - that they'll be attacked or harassed for even going outside. They're afraid to access assistance that they may need. What would you say to Haitian Americans, Haitian migrants, who say, this is really scaring me, and I'm afraid to go outside, and who are also part of this community?
DEWINE: The vast, vast majority of people in Springfield are just wonderful people. They're very welcoming people. They realize that we have these challenges that I just outlined. But if you talk to people, particularly people who are working with the Haitians, what they'll tell you is they're very hard workers. We had one person the other day, (inaudible) saying, I wish I had a hundred more working for me.
So these - look, these are good people. The people in Springfield are good people. We just have to work our way through this problem. We would like some help from the federal government. I think we - the federal government really should develop a program to look at places like Springfield, where there's been a massive influx, the way you look at any place where there's been a natural disaster and there are not the resources to take care of it.
FADEL: Republican Governor of Ohio Mike DeWine. Thank you so much for your time.
DEWINE: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
