Author: Springfield is ‘far worse than the headlines demonstrate’

Joshua Lisec thought the story about Haitians in Springfield was largely debunked. That is, until he started investigating.

What he found was entirely different from the media portrayals.

Lisec interviewed residents and conducted what he says is the first-ever professional poll of Springfield residents to understand the landscape and has chronicled his findings in a new book, “Haitians of Springfield.” The book, touted as the first oral history of the Haitian immigrant community in Springfield, hits shelves this fall.

Lisec contends his findings dispute mainstream media reporting.

“The number of stories and the severity of the impact are nearly incalculable,” Lisec said. “If I’m going to simply explain it, Haitians have a very different experience of the world than Americans or Ohioans do. In the Clark County, Springfield, Ohio, area, the NGO administrative complex in town effectively decided that integration and assimilation were going to happen.

“But the people told me that the people of Springfield were made to assimilate into Haitian culture, Haitian values, Haitian ways of being, doing, and interacting with the world,” Lisec added.

Springfield shot to prominence during the 2024 presidential election with allegations that “Haitians” were eating pets or even geese from public parks. While local and state officials have disputed those claims, Lisec argues they were rooted in truth “confirmed by whistleblower accounts.”

Now, the city’s landscape is about to change again.

Following a June 25 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the Trump Administration can remove the Temporary Protected Status protections that have allowed thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants to remain in the country. There are more than 350,000 Haitians with TPS nationwide, including an estimated 15,000 living in the Springfield area.

“The media is empathy-maximizing, sympathy-inducing, and compassion-forcing on behalf of the Haitian population,” Lisec said. “The facts of the matter have not been widely presented to the media.

“…Something that the local police have done, I have learned, is that there’s a two-tiered police system and a two-tiered justice system that tilts heavily in favor of the Haitians, benefiting them,” Lisec added.

Springfield’s population peaked around 1960, surpassing 82,700. In the following years, its population steadily declined, dropping to about 60,000 in 2010. Today, the city’s population is hovering around 58,000 residents.

According to the American Immigration Council, Haitian immigrants started arriving in Springfield in 2013 or 2014, filling open jobs. According to the group, more Haitians moved to the city as those who initially settled there shared the news with their relatives at home.

While Haitians fled the country in the wake of a devastating earthquake, according to the Migration Policy Institute, the United States was not their first stop. While some came directly from Haiti, “many others” arrived from other countries in the Americas, including Brazil and Chile.

They have an ally in Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who said, “the policy to remove these individuals from this country is a mistake.”

“This also means that while these Haitians were working and contributing to our community and economy yesterday, today it is now illegal to employ them,” DeWine said in a statement after the ruling from the nation’s highest court.

DeWine isn’t the only politician who’s backed Haitians remaining in the country. Mayor Rob Rue issued a statement lamenting the ruling.

“Many of the individuals affected by this decision are our neighbors, coworkers, business owners, taxpayers and parents,” Mayor Rob Rue said in a statement, per WHIO-TV and other outlets. “They contribute to our local economy, support our schools, strengthen our neighborhoods and have become part of the fabric of Springfield. While we respect the judicial process and will follow federal law, our top priority remains the safety and well-being of all residents.”

But residents’ safety was a concern before the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In December 2024, DeWine announced a new traffic safety initiative in Clark County “that will train members of the local migrant community on safe driving skills,” according to a release from the time.

“One of the big issues we’ve seen with migrants in Clark County is that they are not used to driving here,” the governor said in a 2024 release.

At the moment, there are some questions about the immediate next steps. TPS protections for Haitians will likely expire by the end of the month, but that likely does not mean immediate deportation.

“What will happen next in the city? Over the coming weeks and months, the acceleration of Haitian departures from Springfield will continue,” Lisec said. “Thousands have already left. I’ve been able to discern a small minority of Haitian migrants who lived in Springfield and wanted to become Americans, live here long-term, maybe bring their families, or simply start over here in the States and be an American.”