For days, Donald Trump and his allies have zeroed in on Springfield, Ohio, amplifying baseless claims that Haitian immigrants there are eating others’ pets. The promotion of such rumors, which thrust the city into the national spotlight, is rooted in a centuries-old racist trope of vilifying newcomers to the United States and highlights the country’s present-day divides, historians say.
“We’re going to get these people out,” Trump said Friday during a news conference at his golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., promising to conduct “large deportations” if he is elected president.
His remarks were the latest in a swirl of canards that Trump has spread about Haitian immigrants, despite local officials debunking the claims. Leaders in Springfield have said the claims are harming the community, which has been forced to evacuate schools, city hall and other buildings after receiving threats since Trump’s remarks.
Trump has also incorrectly said that Haitians in Springfield are in the U.S. illegally, though local officials have rebutted that as well. The migrants were granted temporary protected status in the United States after fleeing violence at home.
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