Rick Luthmann and I were back last week for another episode of the Unknown.
About a half hour in, we had Ken Rosellini on to talk about his fight with the New Jersey bar over his law license, so check that out.
During the opening segment, we talked about the situation in Springfield, Ohio, where Haitian migrants have overwhelmed that city.
I talked about a story I wrote about in 2021, for The American Conservative.
Colony Ridge is a development owned by a politically connected family in Texas. They created loans geared toward illegal immigrants, because they require no social security number.
The effects on the area are similar to those in Springfield, with pressure put on the hospitals, schools, and the effect on traffic accidents. Here is part of an article from the Washington Free Beacon on the effects on Springfield.
But none of that, despite the media maelstrom, matters much to those in Springfield who spoke with the Washington Free Beacon. They describe a city in crisis as it struggles to absorb the thousands of Haitians granted Temporary Protected Status by the Biden-Harris administration.
If avian welfare was Springfield’s primary trouble, says Mark Sanders, a school bus driver, the city wouldn’t need much help. But the tabloid-like attention on alleged animal cruelty only serves to distract from a litany of crises that locals say their leaders are ignoring.
"We’re a multicultural city, but it’s just too many and our leaders are trying to minimize the impact," said Sanders. "It’s like fertilizer mixed with diesel fuel."
Rents are rising faster than national trends, which local landlords attribute to Haitian renters who, aided by left-wing charities, have successfully applied for Section 8 housing vouchers. The wait list for these vouchers is now closed.
Crime was already higher in Springfield than most similarly sized cities, but residents are now dealing with a scourge of traffic violations. Ohio governor Mike DeWine (R.) wrote Friday in the New York Times (not widely read in Springfield) that "ensuring that Haitians learn how to drive safely and understand our driving customs and traffic laws remains a top priority."
Social services are overwhelmed, and some Springfield residents are blaming their layoffs on the flood of cheap Haitian labor, an allegation supported by Springfield’s curiously lethargic wage growth since 2022. And some of the city’s most vulnerable populations say they’ve been pushed aside.
"They’re taking attention away from people like me," said a homeless woman who called herself Mama D. "I don’t dislike the Haitians, but it’s harder for us to get houses now. The cheapest apartments go for $700 a month now."
That is to be expected since the area can’t handle this many new residents, particularly those who are unskilled and don’t speak English.
While Springfield is currently getting the bulk of attention, many parts of the US are feeling the effects of mass migration from poor countries, including Colony Ridge.
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