UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The head of Haiti’s transition council, Edgard Leblanc, told the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday that he was thankful for Americans showing solidarity with Haitian migrants, especially in Springfield, Ohio.
Springfield has become a flashpoint in the U.S. presidential election after baseless claims by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Senator JD Vance, that migrants in the town were eating cats and dogs.
“I would like to extend a brotherly greeting to all friends of Haiti that have shown solidarity towards the migrants from our country, and that in particular, those living in Springfield, Ohio,” Leblanc said.
City and state officials have repeatedly debunked the false claims from Republicans about Haitians living in Springfield, though Trump has since stood his ground, saying he would try to deport members of the community.
The majority of the 15,000 Haitian Americans in Springfield are in the U.S. legally. Springfield has faced a wave of bomb threats to schools and other facilities in the wake of the claims.
Leblanc, without naming Trump or Vance, cautioned that “the passions that naturally arise during an election campaign” should not be a pretext for xenophobia or racism in the United States.
Leblanc heads Haiti’s transition council, a government body installed in April to bring security back to the violence-racked Caribbean nation.
Gang violence has plagued Haiti in recent months, with more than 700,000 people displaced, according to U.N. estimates.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Kylie Madry; Editing by Howard Goller)
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