“Well, I think we should take the word of a city manager and the mayor that they’ve found no credible evidence of that story of Haitians eating pets,” DeWine said.
The claim had been repeated by numerous prominent Republicans, including Trump’s running mate, Ohio U.S. Senator JD Vance.
DeWine reiterated his faith in local officials.
“Look, my job is to tell what the facts are, and what we’re seeing,” DeWine said, “and I rely on, frankly, on Mayor (Rob) Rue and other officials and county officials. They are the ones who are there, they are the ones who know what’s going on.”
In late 2019, DeWine and Ohio leaders had to make a decision on certain types of immigration. An executive order from Trump meant states could stop accepting refugees for resettlement if they wanted.
DeWine said Ohio would continue to accept those refugees fleeing nations in severe turmoil.
“The State of Ohio has a long and successful history of welcoming and assimilating refugees from all corners of the globe,” DeWine wrote then in a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State. “Ohio also has a well-developed support network to welcome and assimilate refugees, primarily led by our faith-based communities.”
Earlier this week, DeWine repeated his support for the refugee program.
“I want to be very clear: I am not against this program; I’m not against this program. What I do say though, with this program, there has to be a plan to prevent what we’re seeing in Springfield,” DeWine said. “... We clearly need help from the federal government.”
DeWine called the sudden influx of thousands of people in just a few years “very, very unusual” and said it “creates particular challenges” that local and state officials can work on. He has also pleaded for federal funding and assistance.
DeWine said the first challenge for the region is offering adequate medical care. He said that Haitians arriving were trying to get their children vaccinated and get other primary medical care. On Tuesday, he announced $2.5 million to expand primary medical care in Clark County.
About driving safety, DeWine said Ohio law lets anyone 18 or older test for a driver’s license without any driving training. He called that a hole in Ohio law that needs to be addressed, as many people coming from Haiti have driven or were driving with very different laws. DeWine has directed a “surge” of state troopers and patrol cars to Springfield to “deal with traffic concerns in the community.”
“It is not unusual to have immigrants,” he later added. “This is a country that is based on immigrants. But it is highly unusual to have such a massive surge over a period of a couple years.”
Questions also touched on whether the Ohio Department of Natural Resources had received any reports of people taking ducks or geese. One man at a City Commission meeting made that claim last month, and there was one call to Clark County law enforcement alleging the same.
DeWine said that the state isn’t aware of anything like that, adding that the most commonly shared photo of a man carrying a goose had been found to be taken in Columbus.
The governor stressed that the state wants people to move here, and that the Haitians that moved to the state did so due to a large number of jobs available. He called them “hard-working people,” and said the problem is only due to the large number of people moving in.
Ultimately, DeWine said that he has confidence in local leadership and local residents, and that he is optimistic about the future of the city and Clark County.
