The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities.
On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending “an unlimited number of migrants to Ohio communities.”
Photo: AP
Thousands of Haitian migrants have landed in the city in the past few years, as unrest in their home country has given way to violent gangs ruling the streets.
Ohio has already provided additional resources to Springfield to help with education and training for drivers, to pay for more vaccines and health screenings in schools, and to enhance translation services, DeWine said.
However, he is taking additional action.
“These dramatic surges impact every citizen of the community, every citizen,” he said, adding that additional influxes are occurring in Findlay and Lima, Ohio. “Moms who have to wait hours in a waiting room with a sick child, everyone who drives on the streets, and it affects children who go to school in more crowded classrooms.”
The Ohio State Highway Patrol yesterday was to be dispatched to help local law enforcement with traffic issues that officials say have cropped up due to an increase in Haitians unfamiliar with US traffic laws using the roads.
DeWine said he is also earmarking US$2.5 million over two years to provide more primary healthcare through the county health department and private healthcare institutions.
DeWine’s family operates a charity in Haiti in honor of their late daughter, Becky, who died in a car crash.
He said the Haitians who have moved to Ohio are generally hard-working people who love their families and who are seeking to escape the violence in their home country for good jobs in the state.
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