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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced that he is sending law enforcement and state into the city of Springfield following reports of unrest created by an influx of Haitian migrants.

According to combined media reports, the Ohio State Highway Patrol will assist Springfield police with traffic issues that officials blamed on Haitians who do not follow local traffic laws. DeWine, a Republican, is also allocating $2.5 million over two years to provide Springfield with increased healthcare access through the county health department and private healthcare institutions.

Springfield is a city of roughly 59,000, but it has been the focus of the federal Temporary Protected Status program where 15,000 Haitian migrants have been relocated. In recent weeks, news reports of increased crime created by the migrants began to percolate across social media, and a video of municipal hearing testimony by Springfield homeowner who said she was being forced to move because homeless Haitian migrants were creating an unsafe community went viral.

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who grew up near Springfield, cited crises in housing and social services created by the migrant influx in a July congressional hearing.

“In my conversations with folks in Springfield, it’s not just housing,” the senator said. “They’re trying to build 5,000 new housing units, which is a very Herculean task in a town of about 55,000 people, but it’s also hospital services, it’s school services. There are a whole host of ways in which this immigration problem, I think, is having very real human consequences.”

Ohio Attorney General David Yost announced his office is reviewing legal options to stop the federal government from “sending an unlimited number of migrants to Ohio communities.”

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“This is absurd – Springfield has swollen by more than a third due to migrants,” Yost said. “How many people can they be expected to take?”

DeWine agreed with Yost, adding, “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. The federal government has not demonstrated that they have any kind of plan to deal with the issue. We will not walk away.”

There have also been wildly conflicting reports of Haitian migrants stealing and eating domestic cats while also killing and eating geese and ducks from local parks. While some residents have attested to such acts – their concerns were repeated by a number of Republican politicians including former President Donald Trump – local police and officials have vehemently denied such crimes have occurred. When pressed on the subject, DeWine dodged the question by saying, “As far as other things that might be occurring in the community, I would refer to local officials who have spoken out.”

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