Ohio Statehouse leaders address unfounded Springfield claims

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — Eyes from all over the nation have been on Springfield, Ohio these past few weeks, as unfounded claims that Haitian immigrants are eating their neighbors’ pets have been amplified by former President Donald Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has also poured millions of dollars and resources into the western Ohio city, but Ohio Statehouse leaders talked about what more can be done in exclusive interviews.

Watch: Ohio Statehouse leaders on unfounded Springfield claims

Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens

When Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) was asked whether he thinks any sort of statewide legislation could apply to both Springfield and other Ohio communities that might face the same problem, Stephens first brought up federal policies.

“This is, this is clearly, you know, the influx is clearly a policy from the Biden-Harris administration. It’s frankly, an unfunded mandate from the federal government and it is putting a lot of squeezes on a lot of the different institutions of the local government,” Stephens said.

Stephens pointed to Springfield as one reason why the 2024 election is so important, namely the presidential race.

“If people don’t like the fact that there’s thousands of immigrants coming in, you know, President Trump has said he’s going to undo that and if people like the other one then that’s fine,” he said. “I’m voting for President Trump, because I talked to a lot of people in these small communities, and they are concerned that it may happen to them.”

Stephens said he thinks largely, the issue comes down to a federal question about immigration. Governor Mike DeWine has said Haitian immigrants are in Springfield through the federal Temporary Protected Status program (TPS). https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status Haiti is one of 16 countries that is granted that service by the United States government.

“These are legal immigrants. It’s not like they’re illegal,” Stephens said. “The question is, is should that be a legal way for people to immigrate?”

Stephens called Ohio an “international state.” When asked if using rhetoric questioning whether certain types of immigration should be legal could be harmful to immigrants in Ohio, he said “I’m not sure about that.”

“I mean, I’m just telling you what I’m hearing as I talk to folks. And I think that, you know, having legal immigration, you know, these are these are legal immigrants. It’s not like they’re illegal. The question is, is should that be a legal way for people to immigrate? That’s something that I think there’s been a lot of discussion about,” he said.

As far as statewide policy goes, Stephens said it comes down to keeping what is good for Ohio in mind.

“I think having that discussion of what is going to keep people safe is really where the state legislature comes in,” he said.

The legislature is on break right now, so Stephens said, “We haven’t come to a conclusion yet,” but said a lot of thought is going into it.

“I think whether it’s driver training, whether it’s other things, we need to make sure that our folks are safe and not pouring a bunch of state money to fix that problem,” Stephens said.

Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo

When Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) was asked the same question, about whether she thinks any sort of statewide legislation could apply to both Springfield and other Ohio communities that might face the same problem, she first brought up the political rhetoric that has been swirling.

“I think the first fix that we need to make is making sure that our leaders understand the harm that their words and rhetoric can cause to communities,” she said.

Russo said what Springfield has had to “endure” over the last couple of weeks “because of very irresponsible, harmful rhetoric,” is inexcusable.

“I mean, we’ve got schools that have been closed and under threat,” Russo said. “Hospitals, colleges, city hall courts, I mean, businesses have suffered because of this.”

Russo said she thinks there are “real issues” to address in communities like Springfield.

“When you’ve got an influx of workers that come in to fill jobs, having the jobs is great, but we’ve got to have the infrastructure to support the increases in population,” she said.

Russo said she thinks the legal immigration that we are seeing in the state lends itself to a solution for a problem that lawmakers have long talked about.

“We spend an enormous amount of time and resources in this General Assembly talking about how are we going to address our workforce shortages here in the state of Ohio. It has been a theme every year that I have been in this General Assembly,” she said.

She said suggestions to halt immigration to the state could have an adverse effect.

“We want to deter the ability of companies and businesses to fill those jobs? Again, whether it’s Ohio residents, residents from outside the state of Ohio, workers coming in or legal immigration, I think that a lot of businesses have considerations that we need to think about,” she said. “Because the reality is we have real workforce shortages in this state that, as you know, if we are going to thrive into the future, we’ve got to think about how do we attract more workers here to fill those jobs.”

Russo compared the immigration to Springfield to some of the growth other areas of the state have seen.

“Not unlike what we see in many of our central Ohio communities as well when we’ve had large, rapid job growth and many workers moving into an area in a short period of time,” she said.

Russo said that can lend itself to the problems that need fixing in some communities.

“Dealing with housing, for example, making sure that we’ve got capacity in our schools, in communities like that,” Russo said.

She said specifically in Springfield, there are also other problems to consider, like barriers to driver’s education, but still, she said those issues are not unique to the state’s immigrant population.

“We have young adults right now in many parts of the state who cannot afford what is needed to get their driver’s license, which really hinders their ability to participate in workforce, education programs and to get to employment in their regions,” Russo said. “And so, I think that it’s a good idea that we talk about this, but it’s not unique to an immigrant population. This is an issue that impacts many of our communities, particularly rural areas, where we’ve got young adults who just cannot afford to get a driver’s license.”

What’s next?

DeWine has held several press conferences in Springfield and continues to outline several state responses to help the community .

Trump is also considering a visit to Springfield within the next two weeks, though city officials are urging him to reconsider .

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