When an Ohio town saw its population boom with the influx of thousands of Haitian refugees, it had to contend with different cultures and driving habits as it adjusted to a new reality.
“I was a little shocked to see almost 20,000 people coming into a community of 60,000 people. There are issues between the people who live here and the people who are coming in,” former Ohio Rep. Kyle Kahler told Fox News Digital.
The remarks come as Springfield, located about 50 miles west of Columbus, has received national attention in recent weeks, most recently when former President Donald Trump mentioned the town in his responses at Tuesday's debate.
“They're eating dogs, they're eating people who come in, they're eating cats,” Trump said while answering a question about immigration. “They're eating people's pets that live there. This is what's happening in our country, and it's unfortunate.”
The issue has also been highlighted by Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who argued that the Biden administration's “open border” policies have “flooded Springfield, Ohio, by the thousands of illegal Haitians, siphoning off social services and destroying small towns here in Ohio.”
“We need to deport illegal immigrants, not invite them in to wreak havoc in our communities like Sherrod Brown and Kamala Harris have done,” Moreno told Fox News Digital.
While local officials and some media outlets have disputed the points Trump made during the debate, there are still new realities facing longtime residents of the Springfield community, the biggest of which, Koehler said, is the cultural differences between locals and the Haitian refugees who are new to town.
“They don't understand the law, they don't understand some of our customs, and we don't understand some of their customs, and that clash and the overwhelming number of people coming in at one time is really causing problems,” said Koehler, who is now running for state senate to represent the area.
As another extreme example, Koehler recalled a second-hand story he had heard at a local Walmart: “People would come in on a Saturday morning, go into the bathroom, take off their clothes and take a bath.”
“Again, this is not something we do here, this is something other cultures do, or people who don't understand the culture we're in,” Koehler said. “Whether it's true or not, these stories are getting spread and they make things worse for our community.”
Another issue of concern among local residents is road safety, Koehler noted.
“Driving around town is awful,” Koehler said, noting that much of the problem is down to cultural differences.
One notable incident occurred in the area last October when a school bus carrying dozens of children collided with a minivan, injuring more than 20 children and killing Aiden Clark.
The driver of the minivan was later identified as Hermanio Joseph, a Haitian immigrant who was convicted earlier this year of manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the case.
The tragic incident has increased tensions in the community, with Koehler noting that road safety was one of the most prominent concerns for local residents.
“We're seeing a really extraordinary number of car accidents,” Koehler said, “not just in terms of the number, but the severity. When you see a car sitting on its hood on a road with a 35 mph speed limit, it makes you wonder, we're not talking about one car, we're talking about five or six accidents a week.”
Still, Koehler emphasized Springfield's positives, arguing that the city was once in decline but is now on the mend.
“Our town is great,” Koehler said.
