Two Florida Democratic members of Congress are speaking out against harsh Republican verbal attacks targeting Haitian immigrants living in the U.S., labeling them “disgusting,” and “disgraceful.”
GOP vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance said Monday that he had previously raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and “generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio,” adding, “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”
Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz followed up by posting a meme on X showing two cats holding each other, with text that read, “Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don’t eat us.”
However, officials in Springfield told multiple media outlets on Monday that they have not received any credible reports of Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets.
“I am deeply proud to represent one of the largest Haitian communities across the United States in my hometown of Central Florida,” U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost said in a statement on Tuesday. “Haitian Americans and folks of Haitian descent are our neighbors, family, friends, loved ones, and valued members of our communities. J.D. Vance and GOP leaders’ racially motivated attacks against Haitian people are disgusting, bigoted, and based on flat-out lies.
“That top Republican leaders in Congress and across the nation would bolster these lies online and attempt to frighten the American public to gain votes in the upcoming presidential election is disgusting — and proves that Republicans don’t give a damn about communities of color, they want to villainize us.”
South Florida U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, called Vance’s comments “disgusting and disgraceful.”
“J.D. Vance’s recent comments about Haitians in Springfield eating pets and local wildlife are not only a vile, racist lie but also beneath the dignity of any public office, let alone the Senate or the Vice Presidency. It’s disgusting and disgraceful that someone seeking the nation’s second-highest office would stoop to such baseless, hateful rhetoric,” she said in a written statement issued on Monday.
“Instead of peddling these falsehoods, Vance would be better suited to continue writing his fictional tales and testing out his sofa. This is just another page from the same old Republican playbook using fear, division, and racism to distract from their lack of real solutions for the American people. We deserve better, and J.D. Vance has no place in the Senate, let alone the White House.”
Although Vance referred to the Haitians now living in Springfield as “illegal immigrants,” the city of Springfield’s website says, “Haitian immigrants are here legally, under the Immigration Parole Program.”
According to NBC News, the false claims about threats to pets was fueled by a “fourth-hand story” that came from a Facebook group focused on local crime in Springfield that was set to private but had been later posted publicly on the social media channel, and then was picked up by conservative influencers.
Florida has the largest population of Haitians in the United States, with more than 487,000 individuals, according to the World Population Review.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: [email protected]. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and X.
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