Fabricated Charges Against Springfield Haitians Must Be Challenged

The outrageous accusations circulating on social media and in the mainstream media against the Haitians of Springfield, Ohio, are not just malicious and obvious fabrications. They are part of a dangerous plan drawn from a well-known playbook that, throughout human history, has allowed manipulative leaders to convince people to inflict horrific harm on their neighbors in the real world.

But we don’t need to let the manual run.

The accusations that Haitians in Springfield are harming the town’s pets fit neatly into the tradition of the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide calling Hutus and their Tutsi allies “cockroaches” or Adolf Hitler accusing Jews of threatening non-Jews in Germany.

This false and dangerous discourse demonizes entire groups of people and stokes the fears of its audience.

This speech may not immediately provoke physical attacks. But leaders hope that if they repeat it, enough people who should know better will set aside their inherent human decency and participate in or condone horrific attacks themselves.

The latest iteration of the dehumanization strategy began Monday with a message posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The message gained momentum as leaders including Republican vice presidential candidate Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and anti-immigrant activist Jason Miller promoted it.

The claim went viral when presidential candidate Donald Trump repeated it during Tuesday night’s presidential debate. Moderators denied the accusations.

This week’s fabrications are part of a larger plan to demonize Haitian immigrants – and by extension, all immigrants, especially immigrants of color.

In January 2018, for example, President Trump rejected a bipartisan immigration deal negotiated in Congress because it allowed immigration from Haiti and African countries, which he called “shithole countries.”

The following November, the administration ordered the rescission of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allowed Haitians in the United States to remain in the country and work, free from the dangers in Haiti that continued to intensify six years later.

Canceling TPS risks real consequences for thousands of Haitian families forced back into violence, extreme poverty, and extreme vulnerability to natural disasters.

These risks were horrific enough that career officials at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security urged that TPS be retained. Haitians, joined by religious and political leaders from across society, much of the media, and organizations across the country, mobilized and refused to let these dehumanizing attacks happen. They denounced the dangerous rhetoric, organized protests, and filed lawsuits. TPS continues to protect Haitians today.

Then, on Saturday, Trump promised to resume deporting immigrants in the United States, which “would be a bloody story.” Dehumanizing is a powerful tool, and we can all point to examples where it has had horrific effects. But basic human decency is even more powerful, and more often than not, efforts at dehumanization and violence are thwarted by people coming together and refusing to let the attacks work.

The process of debunking the Springfield lies has already begun. City leaders and Haitian leaders in South Florida have refuted and denounced these lies, the media has widely reported their falsity, and Senators Vance and Cruz have faced intense public backlash for promoting them.

The response from the Human Decency Front also included broad recognition of the benefits that hardworking Haitian families — many of whom were forced to leave their country by violence and repression — bring to Springfield’s struggling economy, its churches and its neighborhoods.

But those who spread these lies against Haitians are not turning away from them, even though their accusations are repeatedly discredited. And manipulative leaders will fabricate new false attacks against other groups next week.

So we must all continue to mobilize to demand respect for the truth and humanity of all our neighbors. We must do this in the press and on social media, but especially in our churches, schools, neighborhoods, and families.

Marleine Bastien represents District 2 on the Miami-Dade County Commission. Brian Concannon is executive director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, www.ijdh.org