Haitians fled their country for peace. Now, many are having it disrupted in Springfield

Springfield, Ohio (CNN) — From his small apartment here, Vilbrun Dorsainvil makes video calls to Haiti to spend time with his fiancée and their daughter, whom he never had a chance to meet.

Three years ago, Dorsainvil said he was faced with an impossible choice: risk his life to stay in Haiti and witness the birth of his child or flee the gang violence that had torn his country apart and placed a target on his back.

“I didn’t want to leave, to tell you the truth, but they were after me,” he told CNN. “You go to medical school, they think you have money after graduation … but it was nothing, you know, (I was) just helping the community.”

Ultimately, his fiancée helped him decide.

“She told me, ‘I know it’s hard, but they come after you, you’ve got to leave.’”

And so, like thousands of Haitians in recent years, Dorsainvil fled Haiti for the United States, where he was granted temporary protective status to remain in the country. And, like thousands of Haitians, he chose to settle in Springfield, Ohio, where his brother lived and the surrounding community made him feel safe and welcome.

But that sense of safety has been shattered in the past week, as this small Ohio town became inundated with threats after former President Donald Trump and his vice-presidential running mate began pushing unfounded claims that immigrants in the city are stealing and eating pets.

Clark State College, where Dorsainvil studies nursing, closed its campuses and moved to virtual learning this week after receiving separate threats of a bombing and a shooting on campus. The hospital where he works as a rehabilitation nurse was also forced to close because of the threats.

Dorsainvil told CNN living under that constant specter rekindles some of the fear he felt in Haiti.

“I was saying to myself, ‘Oh OK, I come here to find some peace and I fled my country because of that, and right now the same thing is happening,” he said. “That’s hard.”

‘We did not have threats seven days ago’

There may be those who are tempted to make light of Trump’s claim during last week’s presidential debate that immigrants in Springfield are “eating the pets of the people that live there,” but for the city’s Haitian community, it’s no laughing matter.

“There are concerns for our safety and future,” said Madet Merove, a Haitian immigrant and United Methodist pastor who lives in Springfield. “I’m wondering what Haiti has done to the world that they hate us so much.”

At a news conference Thursday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine praised law enforcement agencies – including the FBI and ATF – for marshalling resources to help protect Springfield.

Andy Wilson, Ohio’s director of public safety, said “every day we are getting multiple bomb threats,” but stressed that they’ve all turned out to be a hoax.

“In the environment that we have people are going to do stupid things,” Wilson said. “If you think you can get a rise out of somebody by doing something like that – calling a bomb threat in – if you get caught you are going to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

The governor previously said Springfield has received more than 30 threats since late last week. Two local Walmarts and multiple schools have been evacuated this week because of threats. And though each one was unfounded, they have contributed to the very real sense of fear and frustration in the community.

Schools in the city reopened Tuesday with additional security from the state’s highway patrol, including tower cameras and bomb detection dogs. And at a news conference later that day, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue thanked the governor for continuing to debunk the false claims and urged national leaders to “tamper their words and speak the truth.”

“We did not have threats seven days ago, we did not have these concerns seven days ago, we did not have these hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in Springfield and from the state of Ohio seven days ago,” he said.

Rue has previously noted Springfield experienced a 25% growth in population over the past three years. On its website, the city estimates 12,000-15,000 immigrants live in Springfield and surrounding Clark County.

The mayor and city officials have consistently noted Haitian immigrants are residing in Springfield legally under the Immigration Parole Program, which the Biden administration launched in 2023 to offer “safe and orderly” pathways to the United States for nationals of Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba facing urgent humanitarian needs.

Margery Koveleski, herself a Haitian immigrant to the US and longtime Springfield resident, said many Haitians choose to live in Springfield because word spread that the city was safe, cost of living was low and there was an opportunity to find work.

“Before you know it, it was almost like if there’s a Good Friday sale and you got a great deal at Macy’s, you tell all your friends and the stores are packed,” she said.

But the sudden influx in immigrants has also placed a strain on the city’s limited resources. Earlier this year, Bryan Heck, Springfield’s city manager, wrote a letter to US Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, requesting additional federal support for the city. In it, Heck noted the surge in population has made it difficult for the city to provide housing for all residents.

“Despite 2,000 additional housing units set to come online over the next three to five years, this is still not enough,” he wrote in the letter.

This month, DeWine’s office announced the state would allocate $2.5 million to expand primary care services in the city and offer additional translation services to better address the needs of immigrant patients.

And, after a spike in traffic incidents – including a car accident involving a Haitian immigrant that resulted in the death of an 11-year-old boy – the governor’s office directed the Ohio State Highway Patrol to increase traffic enforcement. The city also plans to offer driver training geared toward Haitians and Creole speakers.

But at a recent city commission meeting, some Springfield residents said they were concerned too many resources were pouring into immigrant communities instead of helping locals.

“People are really getting fed up,” one man said at the meeting. “A lot of people feel like that. I’m not the only one, but I’m man enough to say it.”

Haitians don’t want handouts but to ‘add value’

Koveleski admits she’s seen a lot of change in her city in recent years. After 9/11, she and her family uprooted their lives in New York City and moved to what she calls “Slow-hio.” They settled in Springfield and opened a mattress store, but over the decades Koveleski said the city began to decline and their family business struggled.

“We went bankrupt because we couldn’t find anyone to work,” she said, adding many local businesses experienced the same downturn.

But that’s changed, she said, with the increase of Haitian immigrants. Koveleski now works as a Haitian Creole translator and community activist.

“There’s two sides to a story, and yes (some residents) feel like it’s an invasion and we’re losing a lot of resources. But with Haitians, we don’t want handouts because we’re here to work. That’s the Haitian mentality – they want to add value.”

One Ohio-based temp agency told CNN the demand for work in the wider Springfield area is high and it estimated most of the people it connects to nearby companies are Haitian.

“At this point we are probably a 60/40 split,” said Corey Worden, president of the staffing agency Job Talent Connect.

His agency helps connect any potential employee with companies in the area who need workers. They even work with the companies to help provide transportation for a small fee to those who may want to work but don’t have a way of getting there – it’s a service available to any worker, not just immigrants.

Trump said Wendesday that he intends to visit Springfield “in the next two weeks.”

Mayor Rue said at a news conference Thursday that a visit from either presidential candidate would tax the city’s already limited resources.

“Should he choose to change his plans, it would convey a significant message of peace to the city of Springfield,” he said.

Back in his apartment, Dorsainvil is begrudgingly taking virtual classes, which he says are harder than going in person because English is his second language.

He said the past week has changed his predominately Haitian neighborhood. People used to walk along the sidewalks and greet each other; now they’re scared to leave their homes.

But despite the threats, Dorsainvil said he has reason to hope.

“The past couple of few days, I was feeling a little bit down, but for some reason I feel better right now. You know why? Because my teachers, coworkers, friends – even people who didn’t have my contact – they reached out to me somehow, asking, ‘How are you holding up? We love you; we need you here,’” he said. “So, there’s a lot of love in this society.”

Dorsainvil said he hopes Springfield will return to how it was before the city became a political lightning rod.

And he said he also wishes people back in Haiti – including his fiancée and daughter – will one day get to experience the same peace of mind and stability that brought him to the city in the first place.

“Unfortunately, we cannot take all the Haitians coming here. We have to build a country back there,” he said. “I think one day I will get back and help.”

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CNN’s Omar Jimenez and Meridith Edwards reported from Springfield, Ohio, and Chelsea Bailey wrote in Washington, DC.