John Legend Urges Springfield Locals To Embrace Haitian Immigrants, Locals Rip Him To Shreds

John Legend is sticking up for his hometown, Springfield, Ohio ... urging locals to welcome Haitian immigrants after Donald Trump 's wild claim that they were eating local pets -- but it seems his calls for unity have largely fallen on deaf ears.

In an IG vid, the singer -- a die-hard Democrat -- insisted no one in Springfield was eating cats or dogs . He also pointed out the city has seen an influx of jobs under President Joe Biden ’s administration, after years of people leaving town to find work elsewhere.

He noted the Haitians who arrived did so legally to fill local jobs, and while he acknowledged the town's 25% population increase has brought growing pains -- like adapting to new language, culture, and dietary preferences -- he urged the community to be more understanding.

However, the community isn't buying it , with residents grousing the influx of 20,000 Haitian immigrants in the past few years into a town of 58,000 is a huge problem ... claiming, among other things, there's a slew of car accidents every day at the hand of people who don't have driver's licenses or insurance.

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Locals are freaking out about a crime spike, saying violence is up 142% from 2019 to 2022, according to FBI data. The data doesn’t track crime by immigration status.

On the whole, residents slammed John's comments ... calling him an out-of-touch celeb who preaches about their lives from thousands of miles away.