Correction: The police department of Springfield, Ohio, reports 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants in Clark County. The information was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.
GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) on Monday amplified a false claim that Haitian immigrants are abducting and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, despite the city’s police department denying any such incidents.
In a post on the social platform X, Vance published a video of him at a July Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing, reading a letter from Springfield city manager Bryan Heck detailing the city’s challenges in keeping up with housing for a growing Haitian immigrant population.
Vance added a reference to a now-debunked social media post.
“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?” he wrote.
Those reports are largely based on social media postings that were picked up by national figures including Charlie Kirk and Elon Musk over the weekend.
But Heck, whose letter Vance read in the committee room, said false allegations against immigrants were distracting from the real issues faced by Springfield.
“In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community. Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes. Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic,” Heck told The Hill in an email.
“Yes this clearly takes away from the letter’s point that we are struggling with housing, resources for our schools, and an overwhelmed healthcare system.”
The Springfield Police Division told the Springfield News-Sun on Monday that it has received no reports about anyone stealing or eating pets.
At an Aug. 27 Springfield City Commission meeting, local resident Anthony Harris alleged, among other things, that Haitian immigrants were slaughtering park ducks for food. Video of his speech has been widely shared on social media.
“Senator Vance has received a high volume of calls and emails over the past several weeks from concerned citizens in Springfield: his tweet is based on what he is hearing from them. The city has faced an influx of 15,000-20,000 Haitian migrants over the past four years, stressing public resources and leading to housing shortages, all thanks to Kamala Harris’s policy of extending temporary protected status designations,” a Vance spokesperson said.
“Many residents have contacted Senator Vance to share their concerns over crime and traffic accidents, and to express that they no longer feel safe in their own homes. Unlike the liberal media, JD takes his constituents’ concerns seriously.”
According to a frequently asked questions page managed by the Springfield police, between 12,000 and 15,000 immigrants live in Clark County. An unknown number of Haitians live in the midwestern city legally, most under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. Heck’s letter estimated the city’s Haitian to have grown by 15,000 to 20,000 people over the last four years.
“This is the same old anti-Black playbook that we’ve seen for hundreds of years in Ohio being rolled out to divide and create hate, especially around election times,” said Erik Crew, staff attorney at the Haitian Bridge Alliance and a Cincinnati native with Springfield roots.
“White supremacist and antidemocratic movements have always used the claim that so-called Black savages are coming to destroy, especially when political power is up for grabs. This is no different. This time they are saying it is Haitians, and this time it is being used to try to score political points around immigration as well.”
In June, the Biden administration expanded the TPS designation for Haiti, allowing an estimated 309,000 Haitians to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation.
“The fact is Haitian immigrants have been coming to Springfield seeking to come and contribute to U.S. democracy and the economy, and Springfield and Ohio will benefit from that like U.S. communities have benefited in the past from Black immigrants contributions,” Crew said.
“The fact is the rumors about Haitians in Springfield and pets have already been debunked, but we won’t stop hearing them because certain people will want to keep spreading them as the election nears.”
The accusations were widely picked up on right-wing social media on both personal and official channels.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) posted a meme of frightened cats with the text, “Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don’t eat us.”
And the House Judiciary Committee Republicans X account on Monday posted an AI image of former President Trump hugging a duck and a cat — animals at the center of the social media allegations — with the caption “protect our ducks and kittens in Ohio!”
Vance has recent experience in cat-related controversies since becoming the GOP vice presidential nominee.
He has been widely criticized for unearthed old comments and postings criticizing “cat ladies” and childless people, though he has since tried to downplay those remarks as remarks as sarcasm.
Updated Sept. 17 at 10:10 a.m. ET