Haitians are asking people to give them more time to adapt to a new culture, but residents worry about their safety and the drain on resources.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—They live on separate sides of Springfield, but Rhonda Zimmers and Melissa Skinner noticed gradual changes to their neighborhoods in this Ohio city midway between Dayton and Columbus, starting around three years ago.
“Longtime residents who I used to see were no longer there. They moved out, and Haitian migrants moved in. They didn’t speak English. I started to see a lot of foot traffic on the streets. And you could see a dozen or more people coming and going from the houses. It was clear there were a lot of people living in the houses,” Zimmers told The Epoch Times.
Skinner, who serves with Zimmers on the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals, observed a similar transition in her neighborhood.
“We used to know everyone, and mostly everyone got along, but then we started seeing more turnover on our street. We no longer knew many of our neighbors,” Skinner said.
“It used to be a quiet and peaceful place to live. Now, we have several houses where several Haitian families are living in a home intended for one family. And sometimes we get harassed by people who are yelling at us in a foreign language. We have to be more cautious. This is not the Springfield I once knew,” Skinner said.
A blue-collar city that saw many of its factories shut down decades ago, Springfield’s population declined to less than 60,000—until the last few years. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Haitian migrants have arrived here over that span.
Residents have voiced concern and frustration over safety issues and a strain on resources. City leaders have acknowledged that changes must be made to effectively accommodate its residents and the migrants.
The conversation was mostly confined to Springfield and Clark County until the presidential debate earlier this week. At an Aug. 27 city council meeting, some residents alleged that Haitians were killing cats, dogs, ducks, and geese for food.
