Vance, Republicans Elevate False Claims about Immigrants Eating American Pets

The Washington Post / Mariana Alfaro

17:51 JST, September 10, 2024

Some Republicans, including Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance, on Monday amplified the false and dehumanizing claim that immigrants in Ohio who came into the country during the Biden-Harris administration are injuring and eating Americans’ pets.

The baseless and bizarre belief drew Republicans’ attention Monday after Vance – who has long claimed that immigrants are draining resources in towns such as Springfield, Ohio – shared a post on X in which he cited unnamed “reports” claiming that people in the town west of Columbus “have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”

Police in Springfield told local news outlets that there are no reports of pets being stolen or eaten in the city.

Still, Vance tied the baseless suggestion that immigrants are hurting animals to the Biden-Harris administration, in what appeared to be an effort to attack Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

“Where is our border czar?” Vance said in his post on X – calling Harris by a label Republicans have given to the vice president, despite there being no position by that name in the Biden administration.

Though Harris was not in charge of border policy during the Biden administration, she was tasked with meeting with the leaders of Central American countries to discuss the factors that push immigrants out of their home countries – a role Republicans have sought to use to tie the issue of immigration to her on the campaign trail. Spokespeople for the Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Republicans’ attacks.

On Monday, Vance’s sentiment attacking Harris and demonizing immigrants in Springfield was quickly echoed by the Trump campaign and other Republicans in Congress, including Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.). In a news release, the Trump campaign said residents of Springfield have “been left in terror as migrants overtake the once-quiet city” and that migrants were “dumped” “unvetted” in the city because of the Biden-Harris administration’s policies.

While Vance, who represents Ohio in the Senate, and the Trump campaign appeared to suggest that Haitian immigrants in Springfield arrived illegally and without proper vetting, the growing population of Haitian immigrants there live and work in the United States legally, according to an FAQ put together by the city of Springfield. Per the document, Haitian immigrants in Springfield arrived under the Immigration Parole Program and were allowed to apply for temporary protected status, an authorization that gives them the ability to work legally in the United States. To receive such status, immigrants must maintain a clean crime record.

In a statement to The Washington Post, a spokesperson for Vance said the senator received a “high volume of calls and emails over the past several weeks from concerned citizens in Springfield,” which prompted his tweet attacking Harris and citing the unverified reports about immigrants.

“Many residents have contacted Senator Vance to share their concerns over crime and traffic accidents, and to express that they no longer feel safe in their own homes,” the spokesperson said. “JD takes his constituents’ concerns seriously,” the spokesperson added.

The baseless notion that immigrants are hurting animals in Springfield appears to come from a viral Facebook post first shared in a Springfield Facebook group in which a user claimed that their neighbor’s daughter’s friend had found her lost cat hanging from a branch at a home where a Haitian neighbor lives.

The user then claimed, without evidence, that “Rangers & police” had told them that Haitian neighbors had also been hanging ducks and geese for butchering. Per the Springfield News-Sun, Springfield Police said Monday that they are aware of the social media posts but that there was no evidence of such claims and that the issue is “not something that’s on our radar right now.”

But the police statement did not stop Republicans from amplifying Vance and the Trump campaign’s messaging against Harris and immigrants. The Trump campaign, in its news release, cited a Daily Mail story covering the Facebook user’s baseless claims and, in a post shared on X, the Trump War Room said Trump, if elected “will deport migrants who eat pets. Kamala Harris will send them to your town next. Make your choice, America.”

Cruz on X shared an image of two cats hugging each other with overlaid text reading: “Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don’t eat us.” Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Tex.) shared a video on X that contained AI-generated footage of Trump kissing a duck and knitting next to a cat.

“We cannot allow our pets to become a hot lunch for Kamala’s newcomers,” Hunt said in his post. “This November, you can do your part. Protect the Animals. Vote Trump.”

And, also on Monday, Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that his office would “exhaust all possibilities” to address the arrival of “an unlimited number of migrants to Ohio communities,” arguing that residents have, among other things, complained that migrants were reportedly “killing wildlife for food.”

“This is absurd – Springfield has swollen by more than a third due to migrants,” Yost said in a statement. “The problem is not migrants, it is way, way too many migrants in a short period of time.”

The baseless claims that migrants have killed pets and wildlife are part of Trump’s broader pattern of using dehumanizing language when discussing immigrants, which during this election cycle has included portraying migrants as violent criminals – despite there being little evidence immigrants cause more crime than native-born Americans – and saying that they are “poisoning the blood of our country.” He’s also touted plans for militarized mass deportations of migrants, should he win back the White House.

Vance, specifically, has previously derided Haitian immigrants in Springfield, claiming that migrants have stressed the city’s ability to provide housing opportunities to residents, strained public resources and lowered the wages of American workers. He said that about 15,000 to 20,000 immigrants have arrived in the city of about 60,000 in the past four years – similar numbers as those cited by the city of Springfield, including its mayor, Rob Rue, who in a July interview with “Fox & Friends First” said the city needed federal aid for support as it adjusts to the influx of migrants, many of whom are said to be Haitian.

“We are doing the best we can to take care of those who have come to us as visitors, those who have come in due to protected asylum,” Rue told Fox News. “The growth has been so large that this is causing difficulties for us to safely serve this community.”