SAUNDERS: There’s much more to Springfield story than cats and dogs

There were no questions during Thursday’s White House press briefing about what the Biden-Harris administration is doing about the beleaguered city of Springfield, Ohio. No reporter asked Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre whether President Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris plan to visit the town that has come to represent what happens when a Midwest manufacturing city of 58,000 absorbs the arrival of some 20,000 migrants.

Imagine a one-third bump in your town’s population over four years. That’s a story.

Instead, there were questions about former President Donald Trump’s claim during Tuesday’s presidential debate that Haitian migrants were eating pet dogs and cats. Does Biden believe these false stories led to bomb threats that shut down City Hall Thursday? (It turns out, email threats prompted school and public school closures Friday as well.) Was the White House afraid the stories would spur hate crimes?

That says it all about my profession. A working-class community is struggling with a huge influx of newcomers, many of whom do not speak English or know how to drive like an Ohioan — and yet the press corps sees the whole mess as an opportunity to fact check Trump.

There was no question as to whether Biden or Harris plans to visit Springfield.

Most of the newcomers came to Springfield to work — so residents are not complaining about the sort of organized Venezuelan gang crimes that increased in Aurora, Colorado.

There have been complaints about reduced wages and rent increases that are forcing people to move.

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine told Fox News that the new migrants are hard workers and family-oriented, but the way they drive can be problematic, hence his decision to deploy the Highway Patrol to be on the lookout for erratic driving.

Team Trump has mentioned the fate of Aiden Clark, an 11-year-old who died in an accident involving a Haitian immigrant driver last year. The boy’s father publicly condemned the Trump-Vance campaign and asked the ticket to leave mention of his son out of the 2024 campaign.

DeWine lamented that Washington opened the door to these newcomers without a plan.

News Nation reporter Rich McHugh reported from Springfield that the population boom has affected nearly every aspect of life. Car accidents are skyrocketing. According to FBI data, violent crime is up 142 percent from 2019 to 2022.

A resident called 911 two weeks ago — before the Harris-Trump debate — complaining that he saw four Haitians who had geese in their hands.

Residents have told McHugh that they do not believe the city’s denials about the problems they see.

Rents are up. The cost of living is up. Springfield is not the city folks grew up in.

At a recent Springfield City Council meeting and on social media, residents complained about bad driving and overcrowding so severe that they experience it even when they’re buying groceries.

Back to the geese. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost complained, “There’s a recorded police call from a witness who saw immigrants capturing geese for food in Springfield. Citizens testified to City Council. These people would be competent witnesses in court. Why does the media find a carefully worded City Hall press release better evidence?”

Last month, a woman named Noel told the City Council that after living in her home for 45 years, her husband said it was time to leave. “I have men that cannot speak English in my front yard screaming at me, throwing mattresses in my front yard, throwing trash in my front yard.”

Springfield is not alone. A recent Wall Street Journal analysis estimated 10 million immigrants have entered the country over the last four years. There was no vote. It just happened. In America.

Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X.