John Legend slammed by Springfield residents for message of unity amid Haitian refugee crisis

Singer John Legend came under fire after telling Springfield, Ohio residents to "embrace" the 20,000 Haitian migrants who were relocated to their city, which is also the singer's hometown.

The comments came after residents have been speaking out against the negative impact the Haitians have brought to their community, alleging several reckless driving incidents and consumption of house pets, as reported by the Daily Mail. Haitian refugees have relocated to Springfield under a Biden-Harris administration program allowing them TPS, or temporary protective status in the US. Special visas are given to refugees from Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba. In the city of about 70,000, some 20,000 Haitian refugees have come there just in the past few years.

"So you might imagine there are some challenges with, you know, integrating a new population," Legend said in an Instagram video posted on Thursday from his Beverly Hills mansion. "New language, new culture, new dietary preferences. All kinds of reasons why they might be growing pains."

"We had about 15,000 or so immigrants move to my town of 60,000," Legend continued. "Now you might say, 'Wow that's a lot of people for a town that only had 60,000 before. That's a 25 percent increase. That is correct."

He then slammed the unsubstantiated claims that Haitians were eating people's pets and encouraged his followers to stop spreading "hateful, xenophobic, racist lies" about the migrants. Residents have spoken up at city council meetings to express their frustration with the cultural differences, including reports that refugees have been taking geese from local parks and using them for food. Geese also have protected status.

"How about we love one another?" Legend suggested. "I grew up in the Christian tradition we said to love our neighbor as we love ourselves and treat strangers as though they might be Christ."

While some praised Legend for his remarks, others were upset by them and made their anger heard on social media. "John Legend says that people of Springfield, Ohio should just accept the Haitians and their weird 'dietary preferences,'" said one user, mocking the Grammy-winning artist in the comments on his social media post.

Another person added, "He's just like you. Except he doesn't live in Springfield. He lives in a multimillion-dollar mansion in Beverly Hills."

Others called Legend and his wife, Chrissy Teigen, celebrities who are out of touch with the rest of the world.

"[John Legend] tries to minimize the suffering of the Americans in Springfield by calling it simply 'growing pains.'"

Local law enforcement has not yet confirmed reports that Haitians are eating household pets.