The Haitian "invasion" of Springfield, Ohio - written by a Clark County resident

I am not a political blogger. I don’t like to talk about politics. It’s a stressful topic. However, there comes a point that it’s necessary. We are in crisis here in Clark County. Springfield has made national news repeatedly due to the extremely large amount of immigrants that have come here. There’s a lot of talk, a lot of emotion, a lot of division, facts, and false information, and claims without evidence. As someone who actually lives here, I can tell you we were talking about this growing issue long before the election season came.
 
It's not about the cats. It’s about the numerous car accidents by thousands of Haitians driving without a license or car insurance. It’s about the American families being kicked out of rental homes so Haitians can be moved in with large groups at higher rent. It’s about the crime rising us to one of the most dangerous cities in Ohio. It’s about the “invaders” buying assault rifles and being aggressive. It’s about the city leaders profiting off this mass immigration. It’s about the women being followed by groups of Haitian men in grocery store parking lots. It’s about our drowning healthcare resources and hours-long lines at the welfare office that now has armed guards at the door for their 9 to 1 ratio of Haitians to Americans. It’s about what’s really happening here.
 
To be clear, I do not want any violence or threats of harm. I do not want hatred at the Haitians. I am a Christian and I do not desire violence at anyone especially for the sake of addressing excessive immigration of people escaping a terribly violent country. I’m writing this because I want the American voters to be aware of what the media isn’t telling them – as told by someone who actually lives in an “invaded” county. People need to know the truth. If millions of immigrants are going to come into our country, the issues here need to be addressed and worked on.

This is home

I grew up here. This is home. I’ve lived here over 30 years. I’m familiar with the places being talked about in the news and on social media. I’m here to tell you none of the mainstream media is reporting what’s actually happening or mentioning the most important issues. They’re hyper-focusing on viral statements made without evidence, and dismissing the validity of the entire matter. Or they’re calling it racism and xenophobia when that’s not it at all. Springfield Americans – both white and black – are united in opposing how many Haitians are coming here. Nobody cares what color they are.  
 
Before the “Haitian invasion”, Springfield had about 58,000 people. It’s not a big city. I live in a small town halfway in between Springfield and Dayton. My grandparent’s generation moved up from Kentucky because this area was booming with jobs. This used to be the place to be for working class folks. This was certainly never a rich area. It’s been on the run-down side my whole life. It’s often described as an impoverished area. I don’t remember the days it was a booming economy. I’ve watched this area struggle more and more over the years as businesses close left and right. No one would disagree that we were struggling…. and then 20,000+ immigrants moved in from a third world country who came and took over the welfare office with lines hours long. These people are coming on a refugee program that offers significant cash assistance, getting housing vouchers, and getting all the welfare programs available to Americans including “free” health insurance and quite a lot of money in food stamps. This area was already struggling. We already had one of the highest poverty rates outside of the Appalachian counties. And now we have tens of thousands more taking up resources paid for by American tax dollars.
 
They started arriving in 2018. The population growth has exploded within the last year or two. Any kind of population growth of 20,000 in a city that had just under 60,000 is going to be hard for the area to adjust to especially with housing and jobs. They continue to come. Busloads of them get dropped off at the Love’s truck stop just off I-70. More come every day.
 
As with any population that size, there are a variety of people. There are good people. There are well-educated, college-degreed people. There are business owners. There are people desperate to escape a hellacious country and start over in the land of opportunity. There are also criminals in the mix. There are gang members that have slipped in. There are rapists from Haiti here now. We can see that there are a lot of thieves in their community. There are dangerous people in the mix. They aren’t all bad. They aren’t all good either. There are people who are thankful to be here, and others who don’t like America. There are some worth welcoming, and others who are a threat to our community.
 
Why here? They say they were told there are jobs here. A temp agency in Springfield employs many of them. Or you could say exploits many of them with low wages, shady contracts, and high rent. This temp agency owner also owns dozens of rental properties. Others suspect the city officials are getting paid for it somehow. The mayor of Springfield also owns rental properties and rents to the Haitians. He is making money from them being here. Many people suspect the city officials allow this because they profit from it.
 
Most of them are here legally. They are under temporary protected status until 2026. A lot of them are asylum seekers. We don’t know what will happen when their protected status is up. Will they be deported or given citizenship?
 
The Haitians come from a third world country – the most impoverished nation in the western hemisphere – and they struggle to assimilate to the American way of life. Their country is suffering extreme political unrest and violence as they are run by gangs. The people living in Haiti struggle with hunger, violence, kidnappings, rape, gang crime, and horrible conditions as they try to survive. Needless to say, they are escaping a terrible place. There is no question about that. But is it good for our country to welcome in so many millions of immigrants? How many can we take in and how quickly? We can all agree that our melting pot of a nation was built by immigrants, and most of us descend from them. What about when huge populations of them arrive in one area? What happens when 20,000 immigrants in need of assistance gather together in a struggling, impoverished city of just under 60,000? A city full of poor folks who are barely able to buy groceries, families have moved in together, and the homeless community grows, children are hungry, and the city slowly crumbles before our eyes?
 
Some Springfield citizens welcome them with open arms.
 
Others resent them taking up resources taken from the American taxpayer who is struggling to survive. (And the state just keeps sinking more of our tax money into non-Americans.) Some resent that Americans aren’t put first by our politicians they elect in a government they pay into. Foreigners are being put first over struggling American families.
 
While others fear them, many feeling we have been invaded sheerly due to the numbers.

Let's talk about the issues

• The most obvious issue is that there’s too many too fast. This is not a big city like Chicago or New York. We can’t handle a population growth like this. If they had immigrated in smaller numbers, this would barely be noticeable. If they dispersed, it wouldn’t be as hard to handle. Yet they continue to pour in daily (yes, I literally mean daily).
• A new issue that has quickly risen to one of the most serious is election fraud. These people who are not American citizens are trying to vote. It caught my attention when people started mentioning places telling them to vote. It was found that the library in Springfield was handing out illegal voter registration forms. Then the Ohio Secretary of State caught an illegal absentee ballot sent out by a Haitian refugee. This was publicly reported in a press release. The Secretary of State said it was distributed by the welfare office and actually printed by the Ohio Department of Medicaid. They were told to cease and desist. Now it’s rumored that the BMV is telling them to register to vote? In interviews, some have said they plan to vote. Now do you understand why Kamala is welcoming in immigrants at insanely high rates in the months leading up to the election? Now do you see why they are being sent to red states? Thankfully, Ohio is being more diligent on election integrity. It is unclear if the immigrants actually know it’s illegal for them to vote and such lawbreaking could get them deported. This is fact not fiction, folks. These attempts at election fraud have been publicly reported by government agencies and covered by conservative media outlets. How can they get an absentee ballot unless they were accepted as a registered voter? And how many of them have slipped through the registration process and sent in absentee ballots? Perhaps, we need to do away with absentee ballots.
• One of the most important issues is the daily car accidents making our roads unsafe. The majority of people in Haiti walk to their destination. These immigrants may have never driven a car before they got here. We’ve noticed their…newness… to operating a motor vehicle. There are 6-10 accidents a day. They’re not going to driving school. They are driving without licenses or car insurance. There are literally multiple accidents a day in Springfield because of the Haitians. Several local Americans have already been killed because of them, including one hitting a school bus. While it’s bothersome enough that they don’t get in legal trouble for driving without a license, we are mostly concerned for our safety driving on roads with unlicensed drivers who don’t actually know how to drive. People fear their children and loved ones will be hit every time they leave their house. And this is wild, y’all. This is not the new driver experience we had as teenagers. This is a group of people that don’t understand how our roads even work. They go the wrong way on one-way streets all the time. They go off the road. One local tells of watching her DoorDash driver on the app arrive to a closed road and then proceed to take the railroad tracks instead. We have never seen road safety issues like this. They hit parked cars. They hit houses. Locals post pictures and videos and collages. Keep in mind if you can’t afford to fix your car, that person has just lost their transportation to work and may lose their job because of it.
• Many locals are irritated that we would get in trouble for breaking the law by driving without a license and without car insurance, but they don’t. We would get our cars towed, charged with a misdemeanor on first offense, and maybe even go to jail. They don’t get in trouble though. Some of them even drive cars without plates.
• Speaking of car insurance, most Clark County residents have suffered their car insurance nearly doubling because of the massive increase in car accidents in our area. One local resident shared a video about how his car insurance for two vehicles is now so high it’s basically a third car payment. Let me emphasize again this was already a high poverty area and most of us are struggling. So now we have to pay more for insurance and also pay out of our own pockets if they smash our cars because they don’t even have car insurance. Thousands of them… driving without a license or car insurance. Yet it’s against the law for us to not have car insurance.
• Homeowners insurance is also going up. I’m just going to go ahead and assume it’s because the Haitians are wrecking their cars into houses.
• Obviously, we didn’t have 10,000 houses sitting empty when they showed up. A lot of the Haitians live in large groups with 20 to 25 people to a house.
• Rent has gone through the roof. The surge in demand for housing has driven up the cost. Landlords are kicking out Americans and moving in Haitians. Yes, landlords are actually kicking out American families in favor of Haitians. Why? They make more money off them. The rent is being raised significantly all over the area – far more than being from the inflation. The Haitians live in groups and get cash assistance for being a refugee. They can pay a higher price. We can’t.
• This is contributing to the significant increase in homeless Americans here in Clark County.
• Some Springfield residents report Haitians making homeless camps in public places such as behind schools. This has repeatedly been mentioned at city council meetings. I have also seen photos of this posted on Facebook several times.
• There have been claims of homeless Haitians being squatters on residential property. One video went viral of a woman speaking at the city council meeting saying they were squatters in her yard and threatening her.
• One of the biggest issues is that they don’t follow our laws and they don’t get in trouble when they break them. Reportedly, Clark County courts have dismissed their cases because of the inability to provide them with the right to a speedy trial due to not having a translator.
• The crime has risen. Springfield has risen to the top 5 for most dangerous cities in Ohio. It surpassed Dayton and Cincinnati! It wasn’t that long ago the rate of violent crime in Springfield was half that of Dayton. I never in a million years would have thought that Dayton would become the safer place to be. In 2022, Dayton was ranked as the 5th most dangerous city in the entire country. To my knowledge, they don’t publicize crime statistics by citizenship status.  
• There have been so many reports of women saying they were followed by groups of Haitian men when they were at the store or in the parking lot. I can’t even begin to count how many times this has been posted locally. None of the media has acknowledged that. Some women get walked to their cars by the employees. Not enough call the police when this happens. Clark County residents know the police are short-staffed and can’t respond to every call. That has been an issue for a long time.
• American women are being raped by Haitian men, some of them being gang raped. Is that why they call Springfield “Little Haiti” now? This has been a verified issue in Lima and Columbus. It has been posted about happening here in Springfield. I don’t know of any arrests yet for this area. I do believe women when they say they were raped or assaulted, even if they didn’t report.   
• Many, many Springfield area residents no longer feel safe going in public in their own community. They are taking their business elsewhere. People that live in Springfield are traveling to Urbana or London or even all the way to Beavercreek to do their grocery shopping, retail shopping, and even banking. Businesses in Springfield are losing customers. This will lead to decreased hours/pay for employees due to low sales and possibly closed businesses. We have had a shocking number of businesses close this year.   
• Speaking of shopping in Springfield, one frequently mentioned issue is how often the Haitians steal from the grocery store. They are well-known for opening bags/containers and eating what they want. They are also well-known for eating fruit even out of the containers in the produce section….and then laying it down. Springfield residents are sick of going to pick out fruit and seeing it already bitten out of. That is theft. There’s plenty of photo evidence and eyewitness testimony for that one. The Haitians seem to favor the two Walmart locations over other stores. The employees can’t keep a handle on it. One local resident posted about witnessing a Haitian bagging items he didn’t scan at the self-checkout. When the cashier said something, the Haitian man screamed obscenities at her. Welcome to the new Springfield. We need armed security in every store.
• Those that do shop in Springfield are often going in groups now and carrying guns. This used to be a friendly place, country folk with manners that would smile and strike up a conversation in the store. Now we feel like we need guns and backup fighters just in case we are attacked in the parking lot. It’s so weird to feel like we’ve been transported to some third world country, but this is our home and our home is turning into a war zone. It doesn’t feel like America anymore. It feels like a movie.
• Parents are upset about adult Haitian men being enrolled in the high schools here. Our school system now has hundreds of new Haitian students who don’t speak English. There are 18- and 19-year-olds being enrolled as high school freshmen. Some parents don’t want 19-year-old men in class with their 14-year-old daughters.
• They receive excessive benefits compared to Americans. They get loads of cash assistance and food stamps. Americans who are struggling to buy food with these insane grocery prices are getting angrier and angrier that these people get $1,000+ a month in food stamps on our dime.
• They have practically taken over the welfare office. There’s so many of them! There is now armed security at the door. When interviewed, one guard said the ratio of Haitians to Americans is easily 9 to 1. The lines are several hours long now. There used to be no line at all. Drive by and see all the Haitian immigrants waiting to get their free stuff on our dime. At the same time, Americans are reporting not getting the help they need because of how long it takes now. The Americans are taking a back-burner as Haitians become the priority.
  
• People are upset that the government is taking tax money out of our hard-earned income to freely give to people from other countries before they take care of the needs of Americans. We have homeless vets sleeping on the streets. We have hungry children here. And we have no say-so in where our money goes when they take it. I think a lot of people are angry the politicians choose to help non-Americans first but they’re using our money to do it. We work so they can have things “for free” that we can’t afford.
• It is common in our area for the manufacturing industry to use temp agencies. It’s cheaper for them because they don’t have to pay any benefits, health insurance, sick days, etc. We know the Haitians are working in some of Springfield’s warehouses. (I’m certainly not against them working.) Some are reporting these warehouses are letting go of Americans in favor of employing low-paid Haitians.
• I’m not the only one who has noticed wages for jobs has actually gone down in this area despite the inflation and the desperate need for better pay. Some think the decrease in wages is because there are so many immigrants here now who will work for cheaper.
• Americans are losing jobs.
• Unemployment is on the rise.
• Somehow the Haitians are pulling together the money to buy rental properties. They’re raising the rent. When the Americans can’t pay the higher rent, they kick them out and move in more Haitians. (This is happening over time and once a person’s lease is up.)
• They are also somehow getting the money to buy buildings for hundreds of thousands of dollars. How are they buying million-dollar properties? They just bought a church out on 41 that is not zoned for residential use. It appears they plan to live there.
• While I’m glad to see them owning businesses that could make them self-sufficient, some residents express confusion as to how desperate refugees coming from a third world country have the money to come here and start businesses when most of us can’t afford to rent a commercial space. I’m not against them owning businesses while they are here. I am against them being rude to American customers.
• Some residents are concerned about infections they bring. HIV is sadly more common in Haiti. For Americans, approximately 0.3% have HIV. In Haiti, it’s approximately 2%. It is not massively high numbers as in parts of Africa. That seems to be a stereotype some locals think. They’re not coming from a country with 20% HIV or anything extreme like that. They have brought tuberculosis here and people are commenting about that, but it’s really not excessive. Anytime you’re taking in people from a third world country that has limited access to quality medical care you’re going to be taking in people with infectious illnesses and chronic diseases that have gone unmanaged. I am concerned that there may be an increase in respiratory illnesses such as the flu and covid especially when they are living 20 people to a normal size house. If we become a hot spot for covid due to this, how will that affect us? Will our jobs shut down again? Will the mandates come back in this area because of them?
  
• Our healthcare resources are drowning. The hospital, private practices, and the free clinic are overrun with more than they can take. The community health center in particular is beyond swamped. Long-time locals are now reporting they can no longer get an appointment at Rocking Horse unless it’s urgent or a yearly well-visit because the Haitians have flooded the gates. The clinic keeps adding on staff, but they also keep losing staff from burnout. I do wonder if the hospital may close. I say that because I know how little Medicaid reimburses. Private insurance is essential for hospitals to stay in business. Will the hospital be able to sustain the weight of this many new Medicaid patients? Will they be able to keep sufficient staffing?
• The Haitians aren’t all friendly. There are countless stories of the Haitians yelling at Americans, being rude, cussing people out in stores, being aggressive, and making Americans feel unsafe. The media isn’t running those stories because it goes against the narrative that this opposition is racially motivated. As I mentioned, with any group this size there is going to be a variety. When individuals in the Haitian community here are posting things like “We own this city.” and “We’re not going anywhere” with a threatening tone or some saying they are going to take over this area (gang life, much?) … Obviously, there’s cause for concern. I know the bad behavior doesn’t reflect on all of them, but this is what people are seeing. The more stuff like that happens, the more division there is. Many Springfield Americans already see them as invaders due to how many came here. When they act like that, they come across as hostile invaders. The tension is escalating. I’m sure there are wonderful Haitians mixed in the mass immigration. However, the more aggressive encounters residents have the more people want them all deported.
• They don’t show love for America. On the contrary, they don’t seem to have much appreciation for the country that has taken them in. One cashier told the story around the 4th of July that a Haitian wouldn’t buy a case of water because it had the American flag on it. Not to mention, some of them have publicly said we need to assimilate to their culture. Now that this is getting national attention, I wish I had taken screenshots of these things as I saw them over the recent months. They are now flying Haitian flags in Springfield.
• Rumor has it that they are buying guns. I thought non-citizens could not buy guns here. It turns out they are actually legally allowed to! There are more than a few people saying they have witnessed them buying guns including assault rifles. Reportedly, citizens have witnessed them buying AR15s! I can see how they may feel a handgun would protect them against possible hate crimes, but assault rifles are a bit much especially when the politicians who let them in want to take that kind of gun away from law-abiding Americans. Stuff like that is what is making people think about warring against them. They have also been reported to be at the range on Leffel. Curious citizens have talked to employees at stores that sell guns and all report being told they have to treat them like everyone else. Allegedly, one Rural King employee stated they have 4 or 5 Haitians a shift trying to buy guns but some of them get denied because they can’t fill out the paperwork. As we are quickly becoming outnumbered by immigrants from a country run by gangs who only know a life of violence, the idea of them being armed is a scary thought – especially with the kind of assault rifles immigrant gangs are using to terrorize Aurora, Colorado. With the growing declarations the “invaders” are being seen buying guns, it is fueling the fear that we as a nation will come to literal battle because so many millions of illegal immigrants and millions of asylum seekers from dangerous countries have crossed our borders. We are not naïve to the crime brought to America by illegals, Venezuelan gangs in Colorado taking over apartment complexes, and the human trafficking going on. It would be ignorant to think everyone is here with joy and no bad intentions. Make no mistake – criminals have crossed our borders too. I will say Springfield is a bit redneck and mostly come from country folk that have patriotism in their blood. This isn’t liberal Colorado. Outside of the city, this is a heavily conservative area. While there are some liberals in Springfield, it’s far more conservative (and big on gun rights).
• It is suspected that there are gangs here now. We’ve heard about the Haitian gangs being housed near each other as refugees in Columbus and how that led to third world country gang violence on American streets. We wonder if the numbers continue to grow will we end up seeing Haitian gang rivalry here?
• The littering is an issue. They throw trash everywhere.
• There are certainly cultural clashes. One of those cultural clashes is public urination and defecation. In some parts of the world, voiding your bladder in public against a building or such is considered normal. We find that inappropriate here when they whip it out in a parking lot as if there aren’t public bathrooms everywhere in America. There have also been a few stories of them pooping on the floor in stores…. and people saying they’re doing that in the parks. That’s one of those things that are hard to believe until you’ve heard it repeatedly from multiple sources. It happens often in Haiti. It’s unacceptable here.  
• We have all noticed the geese and ducks disappearing from the parks. Many suspect the Haitians are eating them. I grew up going to the park that is talked about the most. There used to be so many geese and ducks there. When I was little, we would go there to feed the ducks. Now there are very few. This was being talked about here last year. I don’t know of any photos or videos taken specifically in Springfield. This is something a lot of people thought was happening long before election season and any mention from politicians. Is there proof that some Haitians eat geese and ducks? Yes. Is there proof specifically from Springfield? Not much. There have been some police reports. There’s a shortage of evidence. Most people suspected or believed they were doing this before 2024.
• I’m not going to get into the cat thing. Here’s the thing. I am an animal lover… to the point that I don’t even eat red meat. It’s hard to think about. It’s reality though that different countries and cultures have different perspectives on which animals are okay to eat. There are parts of Asia that eat cats and even some parts that eat dogs. China is actually the biggest consumer of dog meat and one of the biggest consumers of cat meat. (I can’t handle it!) Some sources say it’s normal to eat cats in Haiti, and other sources say it’s not. Given that they are a third world country and some of them are literally starving, I can’t say it’s surprising that desperately hungry people would take desperate actions. I have never been to Haiti and I am not friends with anyone from there. I can’t tell you if they do or don’t. It’s this huge controversy now. That said, there was a Facebook post that went viral. It was posted in a group for Springfield. She said her neighbor told her that her daughter’s friend’s cat went missing and was found hanging from a tree being butchered like a deer by a Haitian. I saw the post before it went viral. I read the comments and saw multiple people telling her to contact J.D. Vance’s office. Vance is not the one who made this up for some political gain. I will say this allegation of Haitians eating pets had been mentioned more than a few times before. There have been some very sad pictures and videos out there on social media, but people always disagree on where they are from. I’m not saying it’s not happening. I’m saying I can’t prove that it is. I’m also saying people are hyper-focusing on this one allegation because it is horrific and barbaric and all kinds of awful.
• One final thing I will say is a growing number of Springfield area Americans do not want tens of thousands of immigrants coming here who practice voodoo. Haiti practices voodoo more than anywhere else in the world. It is an actual religion originating from Africa. In Haiti, it is often mixed with Catholicism. Voodoo is not focused on dolls and pins. It’s about spirits. Their goal is actually to be possessed by spirits. There are rituals and sacrifices in voodoo. Some of those sacrifices require blood or bones. Some residents have claimed the Haitians have threatened to curse them with voodoo.
• On a side note, we’re not a big fan of the Haitians acting like they “built this city” and restored it to some former glory. They turned it into a ghetto slum with higher rent, more crime, theft left and right, and homeless everywhere in sight. It really wasn’t our goal to model ourselves after Dem big cities like Chicago. We just wanted to live safely in our hometown where it used to be a peaceful and friendly place to shop.

 
I know that was a lot of bullet points to talk about, but there’s a lot going on here!

The American response has been mixed

This crisis started getting a little national attention not too long ago. Now that it’s election season, this issue here in Springfield is getting a lot of attention. We’re watching. We keep seeing all the articles and reports. Us locals are crying out for help. We see it getting national attention…but nothing is being done. Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine, did say he was going to help the Haitians with driving. He also said he was going to send additional police. At first, we thought the extra police would help with all the car accidents and maybe the crime. Instead, they showed up to guard the mayor’s house. No one is helping us. No one is stepping in to help the homeless Americans or any of the Americans in need.
 
By far the most shocking thing from all of this – as a resident of Clark County – is to see people tell us it’s not true because they heard on TV or from their preferred political party that it’s not happening. For people who do not live here and are not from here to tell those of us who are actually living here that there’s nothing wrong is mind-blowing. They censor us or gaslight us with labels of racism and xenophobia even though black Americans are just as against it as the white Americans are. Denial is a strong force.
 
It seems most people who aren’t here learn a little about the invasion, think it’s sad, and then go back to their daily life. I realize now I did the same thing these last few years as the million of illegals crossed our border and we heard about border states being overrun. I knew people in Texas were facing this issue. I foolishly thought it wouldn’t come to Ohio because we’re so far north.
 
A lot of people (again, people who aren’t even here) are denying that it’s happening and calling us liars. Most of these fired-up mouthpieces want to get angry at some hatefulness that doesn’t exist but they aren’t willing to have logical discussions about the real issues such as so many drivers without licenses crashing their cars, people being killed, people being made homeless by soaring rent, the crime rising, and the political tension escalating. They don’t want to talk about any of that. They just want to be mad at us for being upset that we’re suffering a massive immigration our city can’t handle.
 
Americans nationwide are making memes because that’s what the younger generation does now. Men used to fight wars. Now they make memes. Most of the younger generation has no backbone anymore. They’ve made this into a laughing matter. It’s not funny.
 
This has drawn another type of crowd – one that we very much do not want here. Racist groups are coming here to protest. The KKK is passing out flyers. (Is this really 2024?) The Blood Tribe has been here several times, marched downtown, and even spoken at city council meetings. The Proud Boys showed up the other day to protest. I didn’t know there were so many organized groups of racists in this country. To be clear, Springfield area residents are not joining them. We don’t want them here. We are afraid they will get violent. We are not interested in uniting with them.
 
The number of citizens coming to city council meetings keeps increasing and increasing. They’re not really listening. Speakers get their 3 minutes, but none of the officials care what they say. City leaders ignore, dismiss, and deny. Remember some of these people own rental properties with high rent they are financially gaining off the Haitians. There are so many people going to the meetings now that some aren’t being let in due to the meetings being full. Haitians have started showing up to the meetings.
 
People have taken to protesting. The protests are growing. The tension is escalating. Police are now guarding the homes of city leaders. The protests aren’t going to stop. Protests are now being scheduled at the houses of politicians.
 
Clark County citizens are doing their own investigating. They’re taking their phones to document the above issues. They’re going out to the truck stop where the Greyhound bus drops off Haitians every day, and people are taking pictures. We have noticed it’s mostly men of war age. There’s not very many children or elderly.
 
We watch the news reports as they lie about what’s happening here and make it look like we are all a bunch of bullies and racists….for not wanting to be invaded by literally tens of thousands of refugees in a small city.
 
And the response from those of us who are here? There’s some that are welcoming the mass immigration. Not very many of those, but a few. Of course, the landlords making money off them are loving their 6-figure income. The people actually living in the areas overtaken are living in fear now. The citizens are afraid to leave their homes. Americans are afraid to go to the store.
 
After Springfield started making national news and things really exploded in the media, many reporters and social media investigators came here to see for themselves. The day that they showed up at City Hall with intention to interview the city leaders there was conveniently a bomb threat. (Many locals think it was fake.) The bomb threats continued. I saw on the local news yesterday that there have been 33 bomb threats in Springfield in the last week. Colleges closed. Public schools dismissed. Cries of discrimination and bullying can be heard, but the cries of unsafe roads and women in danger do not seem to be heard. I can’t help but notice the places with bomb threats are places reporters would have possibly gone to investigate. I haven’t seen any news of who’s doing the threats though. Usually, they’re able to track them down and they announce it. We somewhat expect that sideshow to continue until the reporters have lost interest in Trump’s statements from the debate last week. Update: they announced the bomb threats were all fake. They claim the threats came from overseas… all of them. When the news showed the map of exactly where the threats came in, it was obvious those are all places reporters were going to interview and investigate. The City Hall, DMV, schools. Those locations had to be evacuated because of bomb threats. Reporters had to leave. It was a distraction. Now the news is focusing on swarming the schools with police. They insinuate it’s because of conservatives this is happening. None of the conservatives have done anything to harm these people or call for such harm. The media is intentionally making it look like Trump and his voters are dangerous the same way they played out and dragged out the Capitol Hill event.
 
And the tension escalates…
 
The more the tension escalates and the more we hear rumors of them buying guns and being at the range the more Americans are thinking this will come to literal battle.
 
Some residents have decided to move. Those who can afford to move are getting away from the city… after asking in Facebook groups if there are Haitians in Urbana or Xenia or wherever else they’re considering moving. Surprisingly, some of the smaller cities have faced the same issues. It seems none of the cities are safe. I wonder what will happen to the budget for resources when the higher income families move leaving behind the low-income households. Less money going into taxes will surely affect the budget for city resources, schools, and improvements. This area will become more impoverished.
 
Meanwhile, they bus in more and more. We are becoming outnumbered.

What happens if it continues to grow?

If it continues to grow at this rate, we will literally become outnumbered with more refugees/immigrants in this city than American citizens.
 
All of the issues discussed will get worse. The car accidents will keep killing people and hurting the personal finances of Americans. The crimes they commit will grow. The businesses will suffer their theft and loss of customers. Some businesses will close or relocate. The welfare office will have lines that are even longer.
 
The budget for resources will run out. At what point does Clark County run out of funding for welfare? Surely, there must be a budget. Will they cut off non-citizens from benefits? Or will they stop taking new clients? Most likely they will raise taxes on Americans so the immigrants can be provided for. That’s what the liberals do. They raise taxes so they can spend your money however they want even if it causes you harm.
 
I fear things will turn violent. It’s terrifying to think about. I don’t want to see a civil war of citizens versus immigrants. I don’t want to see this come to a battle. I fear the racist groups such as the Blood Tribe will attack our community. I fear Americans are in danger. I fear Haitian children in school are in danger (and I acknowledge they are being bullied). I fear businesses will close and more people will lose their jobs. I fear what this area is becoming. It’s not safe here anymore. I don’t want to see violence or crime of any kind against Americans. I also don’t want to see violence or crime of any kind against the immigrants. I would like to see this handled lawfully and peacefully. I know that entirely depends on who wins this presidential election. When did we get to a point in American politics that our lives would be so drastically different if one party won vs the other? It feels like the whole nation is at stake.

If you wait until it's in your community too...

The immigration issues and border control affect all of US because America is OURS. Unite together for border control with well-managed immigration. I think a reasonable inflow of immigration is a beautiful thing. This is the best country in the world. This is the land of freedom. This is the land of opportunity. We also need to make it a safe land. No more criminal immigrants should be allowed to stay. No more gangs from other countries should get the privilege of being here. No more rapists from third world countries should be prowling our parking lots. We need to be careful with who we let in, and we need to welcome them at a rate that does not cause harm to American cities and towns.
 
If you wait until this level of influx is in your community too, the harder it will be to fix.
 
If we wait until it’s everywhere, America will be gone. A country this big and great can only be destroyed from the inside out. Open borders will do that.

How can you make a difference?

1. Become aware of what is happening in areas that have been invaded with extremely high numbers of immigrants.
   
2. Bring awareness to this issue. Be willing to talk about it. Be willing to post about it on social media. I know politics is an unpleasant topic. It’s also unpleasant to have your hometown turn into a third world country. Choose your hard. We’re there. You have to choose to talk about it or be silent while it takes over.
3. Vote for politicians who care about this issue and will strive to make our communities safer. This is about voting for politicians on all levels from local to presidential.
4. Be involved in your community. Know what is going on.
5. Document and report issues in your community to local police and also to the community through Facebook groups.

 
Stay safe. Stay aware. Be prepared. And VOTE in every election!
 
Make America SAFE again!

Solutions

1. Border control is essential for our safety!!
   
2. Build the wall! They can use the right door if they want to come in.
3. Lawful immigration should be welcome at a reasonable number each year that does not cause harm to American cities and towns by relocating too many people in one area.
   
4. Do better at keeping track of immigrants.
5. All states should have strict election integrity. Only American citizens who are registered voters with photo ID should be allowed to vote. Perhaps, we need to do away with absentee ballots for anyone not in the military.
6. Lock up the criminals that have crossed our border.
7. Deport the gangs, the rapists, the criminals, and the illegals.
8. Focus initial help in areas hardest hit such as Aurora and Springfield.
9. Focus initial deportation on groups that are more likely to be aggressive against American citizens such as Venezuelans, Columbians, and Haitians.
10. Stop taking money from the American taxpayers to prioritize the needs and support of foreigners over the needs and support of Americans.

 
Get involved in your community. Speak out about this issue. Let your voices be heard! Vote for safe immigration control. Be safe. Take precautions. Be prepared. SPEAK UP.

Has this affected you?

If you are local, tell me how this has affected you in the comments below. Or if it’s near you, tell me how you feel about it. If you’re not local, I still want to hear how massive immigration has affected your community.
(I won’t allow comments to be posted that are racist, hateful, or threatening.)

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Leanna is a small-town Ohio girl who loves to write. She’s the author of several nonfiction books: Happily Frugal, The Subject of Salvation, and Lessons on the Author Life. She has also written many blogs, and focuses on sharing her faith through blogging. Leanna is a devout Christian, Apostolic Pentecostal. Her degree is in health sciences. She’s passionate about Jesus, her faith, writing, teaching, patient rights, and women’s health. You can learn more about Leanna Mae, her books, blogs, and services by exploring www.LeannaMae.org