Springfield City Commision Meeting

[Caribbean Hen]

How did you come to that understanding?

https://www.npr.org/2024/08/12/nx-s1-50 ... ction-ohio

In many ways, Springfield is a typical Midwestern story. The auto industry was once the backbone of this city.

“My grandfather worked there, my father, my husband’s father," says Wittenberg University economics Professor Rachel Wilson, a third-generation Springfielder herself.

As the industry shrunk, Springfield’s population declined precipitously. “It was a very slow, slow death," says Wilson. “The wind has been knocked out of the sail here.”

Around 2020, things in this town took an unexpected turn. Thousands of Haitian migrants, fleeing violence and poverty, landed in Springfield. Locals say it felt like it happened overnight. On Sunday afternoons, you could suddenly hear Creole mass wafting through downtown streets. Haitian restaurants started popping up...


...“I think this whole notion of migrants taking American jobs is hogwash," says Jamie McGregor, the CEO of the McGregor Metal plant here. "That's spoken like a true person that has never made a payroll or tried to, you know, run a business.”

He beams with pride telling his own family’s story: they arrived in Springfield some 165 years ago and started working in the flower business. “You know, my family was once an immigrant, says McGregor. “And so I wonder how they were accepted.”

As he shows us through the plant, McGregor talks about Springfield’s history. He says the term "rust belt" doesn’t offend him — he just thinks it leaves a lot out. The McGregor Metal Plant produces steel parts and welded assemblies for the auto, agriculture and other industries. He employs over 300 people. Business is good.

But it hasn’t always been easy. “Coming out of the pandemic, you know, the economy roared and demand was outpacing what we could produce.” McGregor says the company was profoundly affected by labor shortages, and some 30 new Haitian workers were vital to filling the gap.

“I mean, the fact of the matter is, without the Haitian associates that we have, we had trouble filling these positions.”...


...The accusation that immigrants are hurting American workers is hardly a new one. It’s also one that economists tend to disagree with. “On net, immigration is good for an economy," says economics professor Wilson. “Because they [immigrants] are creating their own demand. They don't live in a vacuum. They want houses, they want groceries, they want cars, they want cell phones. They're demanding goods and services.

The city, she says, is at a crossroads. “We desperately need population. For economic growth, you need population growth, and increases in productivity.”

This immigration boom, she says, could be exactly what Springfield needs.

“It will be good in the long run for our economy. It's just this transition period that I hope we can make it through. Can we make it through to the other side, to the benefits?"

Lot's of good points in that article, but you left some of it out... What I want to know is how Springfield, Ohio originally was detected on the radar as a destination for haitian migrants... it grew from word of mouth in the Haitian community but what were the origins

[∞∞∞]

https://www.npr.org/2024/08/12/nx-s1-50 ... ction-ohio

Lot's of good points in that article, but you left some of it out... What I want to know is how Springfield, Ohio originally was detected on the radar as a destination for haitian migrants... it grew from word of mouth in the Haitian community but what were the origins

Unsure. I did some digging on Google and found articles showing that businesses and Churches were supporting the earlier Haitian immigrants. So Haitians told other Haitians that Springfield is supportive of them and a few hundred become thousands.

2020: https://thegroundtruthproject.org/one-o ... -covid-19/

Of Dole’s 900 employees and contractors at the Springfield plant, around 50% are native Spanish speakers and 25% speak Haitian Creole...

...Community resources for the growing Haitian community are catching up — a few local churches now hold services in Haitian Creole.

2021: https://www.springfieldgraceumc.com/min ... -outreach/

Grace Church became aware in 2021 that there are over 500 Haitian Immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio. Aware that Hebrews 13:2 reads, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have entertained angels unaware.” Our efforts to reach out to our Haitian brothers and sisters has included, generating invitations to church in French, their primary language, and distributing them in the community.

2022: https://www.hubspringfield.com/features ... 20322.aspx

Springfield is attractive for new Haitian residents not only for the job opportunities here, but also because of the services available and the receptive and welcoming population, Shay says. It’s a small town with the resources of larger locations.

“Word of mouth travels quickly through this population,” Shay says. “If one family member comes here and is successful, then others will follow.”

Likely as simple as a few Haitians found a good life in Springfield, told others to come, and it branched out from there.

[kalm]

Lot's of good points in that article, but you left some of it out... What I want to know is how Springfield, Ohio originally was detected on the radar as a destination for haitian migrants... it grew from word of mouth in the Haitian community but what were the origins

Unsure, but seems like word of mouth. I did some digging on Google and found articles showing that businesses and Churches were supporting the earlier Haitian immigrants. So Haitians told other Haitians that Springfield is supportive of them and a few hundred become thousands.

2020: https://thegroundtruthproject.org/one-o ... -covid-19/

Of Dole’s 900 employees and contractors at the Springfield plant, around 50% are native Spanish speakers and 25% speak Haitian Creole...

...Community resources for the growing Haitian community are catching up — a few local churches now hold services in Haitian Creole.

2021: https://www.springfieldgraceumc.com/min ... -outreach/

Grace Church became aware in 2021 that there are over 500 Haitian Immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio. Aware that Hebrews 13:2 reads, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have entertained angels unaware.” Our efforts to reach out to our Haitian brothers and sisters has included, generating invitations to church in French, their primary language, and distributing them in the community.

2022: https://www.hubspringfield.com/features ... 20322.aspx

Springfield is attractive for new Haitian residents not only for the job opportunities here, but also because of the services available and the receptive and welcoming population, Shay says. It’s a small town with the resources of larger locations.

“Word of mouth travels quickly through this population,” Shay says. “If one family member comes here and is successful, then others will follow.”

Nothing nefarious. A few Haitians found a good life in Springfield, told others to come, and it branched out from there.

Good sleuthing here and it echoes what I’ve been reading. There are layers deeper to the immigration issue than just othering and rounding them all up.

[Caribbean Hen]

Lot's of good points in that article, but you left some of it out... What I want to know is how Springfield, Ohio originally was detected on the radar as a destination for haitian migrants... it grew from word of mouth in the Haitian community but what were the origins

Unsure. I did some digging on Google and found articles showing that businesses and Churches were supporting the earlier Haitian immigrants. So Haitians told other Haitians that Springfield is supportive of them and a few hundred become thousands.

2020: https://thegroundtruthproject.org/one-o ... -covid-19/

Of Dole’s 900 employees and contractors at the Springfield plant, around 50% are native Spanish speakers and 25% speak Haitian Creole...

...Community resources for the growing Haitian community are catching up — a few local churches now hold services in Haitian Creole.

2021: https://www.springfieldgraceumc.com/min ... -outreach/

Grace Church became aware in 2021 that there are over 500 Haitian Immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio. Aware that Hebrews 13:2 reads, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have entertained angels unaware.” Our efforts to reach out to our Haitian brothers and sisters has included, generating invitations to church in French, their primary language, and distributing them in the community.

2022: https://www.hubspringfield.com/features ... 20322.aspx

Springfield is attractive for new Haitian residents not only for the job opportunities here, but also because of the services available and the receptive and welcoming population, Shay says. It’s a small town with the resources of larger locations.

“Word of mouth travels quickly through this population,” Shay says. “If one family member comes here and is successful, then others will follow.”

Likely as simple as a few Haitians found a good life in Springfield, told others to come, and it branched out from there.

Oh, there’s no doubt “word of mouth” is a strategy that the US government has used to discourage Haitians from leaving their country in rickety old dangerous sailboats. They’ve been pouring out of there since at least 1981 and thousands and thousands have died at sea, nobody knows how many.

Smuggling Haitians into the United States via fast small boats is big business in the Bahamas. Every night you can bet a boatload of a dozen will land in South Florida.

I would support Haiti being leveled demolished and rebuilt, its people being distributed throughout the world and sent back when construction is complete… the French should pay for most of it.