Mike DeWine sends State Troopers into Springfield to deal with Haitian migrant crisis

Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) announced Tuesday that he will send the Ohio State Highway Patrol and $2.5 million to the beleaguered community of Springfield, where Haitian immigrants have turned the city upside down.

"I want the people of Springfield and Clark County to know that as we move forward, we will continue to do everything we can to help the community deal with this surge of migrants," DeWine said in a statement. "The federal government has not demonstrated that they have any kind of plan to deal with the issue. We will not walk away."

The Republican said while he doesn’t oppose the influx of 20,000 Haitians who have flooded the city since 2020, he said the federal government should do more to help people affected by the consequences of its immigration policy, the Daily Mail reported.

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers have been sent to the city to assist local law enforcement, largely due to complaints that the Haitians don’t understand driving rules in the United States. "Beginning tomorrow morning, OSHP troopers will patrol local roads with the highest crash rates and hold accountable any driver who drives erratically and risks the safety of others," a press release stated.

DeWine said the $2.5 million will be sent over two years and largely used to provide more healthcare in the community. On Monday, Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost also referenced the problems in Springfield, telling his office to find a legal response that would stop the federal government from dumping “an unlimited number of migrants to Ohio communities.”

Although DeWine has provided emergency funding to Springfield for driver education, more vaccines for kids and schools, and translation services, it hasn’t been enough to make a difference. “These dramatic surges impact every citizen of the community, every citizen,” he said, warning that the Ohio communities of Findlay and Lima will also be affected by a surge of migrants. DeWine said the list of those hurt includes “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.”

Springfield has become another epicenter in the American debate over open borders and illegal immigration, with many of those arriving in the city through the Biden-Harris administration's Cuba-Haiti-Nicaragua-Venezuela (CHNV) parole program, which the Department of Homeland Security briefly paused after an internal report raised concerns over fraud.