(NewsNation) — The Haitian immigrant population of Springfield, Ohio, is vital to that city’s economy, and fear-mongering rumors about them stealing and eating pets are “hurtful, not helpful,” says Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.
During the Sept. 10 presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the GOP nominee repeatedly brought up allegations against Springfield’s Haitian population.
“You look at Springfield, Ohio, you look at Aurora in Colorado. They are taking over our towns, they are taking over buildings, they’re going in violently,” Trump said during the debate. “These are the people that she and Biden let into our country, and they’re destroying our country.”
Ohio Sen. JD Vance has since doubled down on the false claims, telling the Associated Press on Tuesday, “I haven’t made up anything. I just listened to people who were telling me things.”
But DeWine, also a Republican, tells “CUOMO” none of it is true.
“The mayor says there’s no evidence. Chief of police says there’s no evidence. City manager says there was no evidence,” DeWine explained. “There’s no evidence, just no evidence of this at all.”
DeWine acknowledged that the border is an important issue, but believes Trump and Vance’s rumors aren’t addressing real issues: “It’s just, it’s very hurtful.”
Springfield is a city of 58,000 people — and roughly 15,000 Haitians have come to make new lives there in recent years, according to DeWine.
He told NewsNation that burst in population is because employers “couldn’t find enough people to work.” Haitians would.
“Look, there’s some cultural problems there. There is certainly language problems. But what they found is that these were people who wanted to work,” DeWine explained. “They were very dedicated and focused, and would learn to work. They would come, they could pass a drug test, and they started hiring them.”
“We want them to come,” he added.
DeWine harkened back to his own family’s origins, explaining that his relatives came to Yellow Springs in the late 1840s as a result of the Irish potato famine. A job on the railroad and fellow Irishmen, DeWine said, was enough to begin his family’s American expansion.
“It’s a lot like we’ve seen with any, any group of migrants, immigrants, coming to a country … this is what happens throughout the history,” DeWine said.