Haitians from Springfield, Ohio are considering taking refuge with us

SPRINGFLIELD | The Haitian community of Springfield is holding its breath until the outcome of next Tuesday’s election, but some are already thinking about taking refuge with us if they can.

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“If things go badly, I’ll leave everything I have. I would find another place, perhaps in Montreal North that I know well and where I have friends,” says Tania Louis in French, met in one of the two Haitian restaurants in Springfield, Ohio.

Like all the people met there by The JournalM^me Louis deplores that this small town located west of Columbus became famous because of the comments of Republican candidate Donald Trump during a televised debate.

“In Springfield, they eat dogs, the people who come, they eat cats. They eat the residents’ pets,” ex-President Donald Trump said live on September 10, directly targeting Haitian immigrants.

In the community, it was a shock wave.

Daily fear

For M^me Louis, a Haitian American permanent resident who has lived in Springfield for five years, Trump’s remarks have especially fueled hatred in this city where life was rather calm.

“I don’t feel comfortable here anymore. We are afraid, we are all afraid. We pray before going to work,” she confides, affirming that she has not been targeted by attacks.

Like her, other members of the community are afraid, especially since members of white supremacist groups, like the Proud Boys or even the Ku Klux Klan, have come to terrorize the community. In recent weeks, several schools and government establishments have received bomb threats, further fueling fear.

“There are already many Haitians who have gone to surrounding towns, to other states or even to other countries,” says Yves Pierre, who opened a business in February to help Haitians fill out forms for have their visa and who is also a translator at the Columbus courthouse.

Deportations

In October, the former American president continued to attack Haitian immigrants, saying he wanted to deport them when he reached the White House.

“He will lose a lot, because we Haitians work a lot,” says Westerlie Pierre Fils, who lives in Florida, but who was passing through Springfield with his company Pate Pam, which makes Haitian pâtés by hand.

“If he wants to deport us, we will go elsewhere and if Canada wants us and offers us the chance to work legally, then we will go and live there,” says the 27-year-old young woman.