Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine offered one of the most vociferous defenses of Haitian immigrants in Springfield yet from a Republican as their presence in the city becomes a chief point of criticism from former President Donald Trump .
Speaking to “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz, DeWine repeatedly noted that the immigrants are in Ohio legally and praised their work ethic, stridently swatting away claims that they are eating neighbors’ pets — unsubstantiated conspiracy theories promoted by Trump and his allies.
“I think it’s unfortunate that this came up. Let me tell you what we do know, though. What we know is that the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work. Ohio is on the move, and Springfield has really made a great resurgence with a lot of companies coming in. These Haitians came in to work for these companies,” DeWine said.
“What the companies tell us is that they are very good workers. They’re very happy to have them there, and frankly, that’s helped the economy. Now, are there problems connected? Well, sure. When you go from a population of 58,000 and add 15,000 people onto that, you’re going to have some challenges and some problems. And we’re addressing those,” he added.