So what am I missing about this Springfield, Ohio, situation? The media has descended upon this place and flooded the zone with half-assed stories all week documenting how this burned-out Midwestern industrial city that's lost 50% of its industrial jobs in the last 25 years has become the unanimou…
So what am I missing about this Springfield, Ohio, situation? The media has descended upon this place and flooded the zone with half-assed stories all week documenting how this burned-out Midwestern industrial city that's lost 50% of its industrial jobs in the last 25 years has become the unanimous destination of Haitian refugees "seeking jobs". Yet zero of these enterprising reporters have given any indication of what kind of jobs are so readily available at this hollowed-out town to support an influx of 15,000 people in three years. There's been some hint that there's a warehousing hub somewhere in the area, but has that really provided the employment base for that kind of population boom? What am I missing here and why are the people reporting on it refusing to tell us?
Everybody rolled their eyes at Trump's comment about immigrants eating dogs and cats, but if the result is a renewed focus on asylum policy, we'll see whose campaigns it does and doesn't benefit in the long run. I bet Sherrod Brown isn't laughing. Feels like if Moreno spent the rest of the campaign exclusively demagoging the Springfield situation, he'd win by 10 points.
The chances that Moreno will be more disciplined in documenting the actual story than Trump? Do you think "Haitian immigrants are eating cats" is Moreno's ticket to victory?
I think "15,000 Haitian immigrants in Springfield in three years" is Moreno's ticket to victory. If Trump's "immigrants are eating cats" quip shines a bright spotlight on Springfield's refugee story, I don't think Moreno objects too loudly. This story features layer upon layer of rage bait for Ohio's largest voter demographic (and Brown's most vulnerable but needed cohort). And the fact that so much of media reporting on this story doesn't even come close to adding up (15,000 Haitians have descended upon a burned-out industrial city that's lost half of its jobs....and have done so to find work), Moreno can quite easily fill in the holes without having to resort to discussing dog and cat consumption.
Not sure. The last I heard he was still unable to run many ads because of the post-primary season timetable and has to outsource it to SuperPACs. Maybe that's changed by now.
The people who will be motivated by "15,000 Haitian immigrants in Springfield in three years" are already voting and are voting Trump.
Everyone else is going to remember nothing except "they're eating dogs and cats."
I fail to see how there's any positive spin on this for Republicans. It's obvious lunatic insanity that repels suburban voters who actually live on the planet Earth and exclusively and entirely motivates racist morons who are not-so-secretly wishing their well-read copy of the Turner Diaries is coming true.
Sure, and he's done it before. The ones Brown can win aren't going to be swayed by some insane lunacy. Basically, I don't think story affects Brown negatively at all. If he loses, it's because Ohio is just a lost cause, not because a lot of Haitians moved into a minor town in the middle of the state.
After the great recession, manufacturing trickled back but the long-time locals had by then largely lost their young and talented to the cities. Also, drug abuse issues hampered their remaining workforce. And some Haitians who fled to Florida who had been granted work passes were directed to Ohio to fill the vacuum.
And now they'll be in fear of some pogrom being called against them.
Thanks much for this. I've read at least 10 stories on Springfield this week and this is the first that's given any indication of why there's so many job openings.
Welcome to the fray. In any case, there has been a boom in new jobs, but it seems less like manufacturing jobs are the new farm work. No one wants to do them or employers have issues finding reliable workers. The drug issues, lack of motivation and yhe large percentage of young people relocated meant that when the city successfully hit project after project and reinvented itself as an inexpensive hub for new regional industry, the workforce just wasn't there to support it. As always, you should know this mark, big immigrant pipelines like this only follow industry. I wonder how much more of Biden's red state investment is going to fall on communities that young Americans simply refuse to move to, and end up requiring increased immigration to fill in the gaps.
I think it was the Newshour a couple of days ago but they had a report from Springfield and one of the employers stated explicitly "The good thing about them (Haitian immigrants) is they are not on drugs during their shift". I listened to the quote twice to be sure I heard it right. It's not shocking per se but still jarring.
I saw that Newshour story too. It was actually the first story I saw on the topic before I did a deep dive searching for specifics on why so many Haitians had moved to this city. The place they visited in the Newshour story was called McGregor Metal and the manager they talked to said he had 30 Haitians working there, which was 10% of his workforce. Okay.....so that accounts for 0.2% of them. It seemed strange to me then and still does that the story didn't elaborate on what the employment draw was to accommodate a surge of 15,000. KingOfSpades' link was the first story I'd seen that gives further explanation.
I do not think the contempt you are expressing for the media is warranted. That's especially the case when there has in fact been a great deal of reporting on this subject. The NYT had a lengthy piece a week ago—before the racist "pet eating" lies cranked up—explaining the city's resurgence and the new struggles it's experiencing as a consequence: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/03/us/springfield-ohio-school-bus-crash-haiti-immigrants.html
Regarding jobs in particular:
>>> In 2017, Topre, a major Japanese auto parts manufacturer, picked Springfield for a new plant in a decaying part of town that had been the site of International Harvester, a farm equipment manufacturer that was once the biggest employer.
By 2020, Springfield had lured food-service firms, logistics companies and a microchip maker, among others, creating an estimated 8,000 new jobs and optimism for the future.
“It was incredible to witness the transformation of our community,” said Horton Hobbs, vice president of economic development for the Greater Springfield Partnership, which executed the plan.
But soon there were not enough workers. Many young, working-age people had descended into addiction. Others shunned entry-level, rote work altogether, employers said. <<<
In particular, please note the first sentence of the last paragraph.
No one disputes that Springfield is facing serious challenges. No one is heedless of the GOP's ability to successfully engage in racist demagoguery even when they have few facts on their side.
Springfield's story does indeed "add up." The claim that "15,000 Haitians have descended upon a burned-out industrial city that's lost half of its jobs....and have done so to find work" is the one that is off-base.
Is it possible that the JD Vance take—that the racist lies don't matter because they're shining a spotlight on Springfield's problems—will actually wind up proving right? Sure. No one with any sense who's lived through the Trump era would dismiss that out of hand.
But Springfield's story is no surprise. It's been deeply reported, and it makes plenty of sense. We've seen stories like it before, and we'll see more like it in the future.
OH-Sen: Trigger alert for unpopular take.
So what am I missing about this Springfield, Ohio, situation? The media has descended upon this place and flooded the zone with half-assed stories all week documenting how this burned-out Midwestern industrial city that's lost 50% of its industrial jobs in the last 25 years has become the unanimous destination of Haitian refugees "seeking jobs". Yet zero of these enterprising reporters have given any indication of what kind of jobs are so readily available at this hollowed-out town to support an influx of 15,000 people in three years. There's been some hint that there's a warehousing hub somewhere in the area, but has that really provided the employment base for that kind of population boom? What am I missing here and why are the people reporting on it refusing to tell us?
Everybody rolled their eyes at Trump's comment about immigrants eating dogs and cats, but if the result is a renewed focus on asylum policy, we'll see whose campaigns it does and doesn't benefit in the long run. I bet Sherrod Brown isn't laughing. Feels like if Moreno spent the rest of the campaign exclusively demagoging the Springfield situation, he'd win by 10 points.
The chances that Moreno will be more disciplined in documenting the actual story than Trump? Do you think "Haitian immigrants are eating cats" is Moreno's ticket to victory?
I think "15,000 Haitian immigrants in Springfield in three years" is Moreno's ticket to victory. If Trump's "immigrants are eating cats" quip shines a bright spotlight on Springfield's refugee story, I don't think Moreno objects too loudly. This story features layer upon layer of rage bait for Ohio's largest voter demographic (and Brown's most vulnerable but needed cohort). And the fact that so much of media reporting on this story doesn't even come close to adding up (15,000 Haitians have descended upon a burned-out industrial city that's lost half of its jobs....and have done so to find work), Moreno can quite easily fill in the holes without having to resort to discussing dog and cat consumption.
Has Moreno been going with the cat-eating libel?
Not sure. The last I heard he was still unable to run many ads because of the post-primary season timetable and has to outsource it to SuperPACs. Maybe that's changed by now.
He would have done so in a statement, probably not in an ad. Have you been following his campaign closely?
The people who will be motivated by "15,000 Haitian immigrants in Springfield in three years" are already voting and are voting Trump.
Everyone else is going to remember nothing except "they're eating dogs and cats."
I fail to see how there's any positive spin on this for Republicans. It's obvious lunatic insanity that repels suburban voters who actually live on the planet Earth and exclusively and entirely motivates racist morons who are not-so-secretly wishing their well-read copy of the Turner Diaries is coming true.
Are you forgetting that Trump is heavily favored to win Ohio and Brown will likely need to win a substantial number of Trump voters to be reelected?
Sure, and he's done it before. The ones Brown can win aren't going to be swayed by some insane lunacy. Basically, I don't think story affects Brown negatively at all. If he loses, it's because Ohio is just a lost cause, not because a lot of Haitians moved into a minor town in the middle of the state.
I think Moreno was the best candidate that the Democratic party could have hoped for; if anything I think this situation is a bonus for Brown
Car parts manufacturering and microchips to name a few: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13808817/Springfield-Ohio-Haitian-immigration-population-surge.html
After the great recession, manufacturing trickled back but the long-time locals had by then largely lost their young and talented to the cities. Also, drug abuse issues hampered their remaining workforce. And some Haitians who fled to Florida who had been granted work passes were directed to Ohio to fill the vacuum.
And now they'll be in fear of some pogrom being called against them.
Thanks much for this. I've read at least 10 stories on Springfield this week and this is the first that's given any indication of why there's so many job openings.
Welcome to the fray. In any case, there has been a boom in new jobs, but it seems less like manufacturing jobs are the new farm work. No one wants to do them or employers have issues finding reliable workers. The drug issues, lack of motivation and yhe large percentage of young people relocated meant that when the city successfully hit project after project and reinvented itself as an inexpensive hub for new regional industry, the workforce just wasn't there to support it. As always, you should know this mark, big immigrant pipelines like this only follow industry. I wonder how much more of Biden's red state investment is going to fall on communities that young Americans simply refuse to move to, and end up requiring increased immigration to fill in the gaps.
I think it helps Brown a great deal; that's right in his wheelhouse; manufacturing successes under the Biden administration
I think it was the Newshour a couple of days ago but they had a report from Springfield and one of the employers stated explicitly "The good thing about them (Haitian immigrants) is they are not on drugs during their shift". I listened to the quote twice to be sure I heard it right. It's not shocking per se but still jarring.
I saw that Newshour story too. It was actually the first story I saw on the topic before I did a deep dive searching for specifics on why so many Haitians had moved to this city. The place they visited in the Newshour story was called McGregor Metal and the manager they talked to said he had 30 Haitians working there, which was 10% of his workforce. Okay.....so that accounts for 0.2% of them. It seemed strange to me then and still does that the story didn't elaborate on what the employment draw was to accommodate a surge of 15,000. KingOfSpades' link was the first story I'd seen that gives further explanation.
and here is CNN story on this: https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/11/politics/video/springfield-ohio-haitian-immigrants-pets-jimenez-pkg-ac360-digvid
I do not think the contempt you are expressing for the media is warranted. That's especially the case when there has in fact been a great deal of reporting on this subject. The NYT had a lengthy piece a week ago—before the racist "pet eating" lies cranked up—explaining the city's resurgence and the new struggles it's experiencing as a consequence: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/03/us/springfield-ohio-school-bus-crash-haiti-immigrants.html
Regarding jobs in particular:
>>> In 2017, Topre, a major Japanese auto parts manufacturer, picked Springfield for a new plant in a decaying part of town that had been the site of International Harvester, a farm equipment manufacturer that was once the biggest employer.
By 2020, Springfield had lured food-service firms, logistics companies and a microchip maker, among others, creating an estimated 8,000 new jobs and optimism for the future.
“It was incredible to witness the transformation of our community,” said Horton Hobbs, vice president of economic development for the Greater Springfield Partnership, which executed the plan.
But soon there were not enough workers. Many young, working-age people had descended into addiction. Others shunned entry-level, rote work altogether, employers said. <<<
In particular, please note the first sentence of the last paragraph.
No one disputes that Springfield is facing serious challenges. No one is heedless of the GOP's ability to successfully engage in racist demagoguery even when they have few facts on their side.
Springfield's story does indeed "add up." The claim that "15,000 Haitians have descended upon a burned-out industrial city that's lost half of its jobs....and have done so to find work" is the one that is off-base.
You can learn more in this 2022 article from the local paper: https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/the-springfield-resurgence-of-springfield/BBFEMFNF25GBFOCJGGN7C54BQE/
What's more, Springfield's story is not isolated or unfamiliar. The Times wrote a very similar story, even more in-depth, about Utica in 2022: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/06/03/realestate/utica-burma-refugees.html
Is it possible that the JD Vance take—that the racist lies don't matter because they're shining a spotlight on Springfield's problems—will actually wind up proving right? Sure. No one with any sense who's lived through the Trump era would dismiss that out of hand.
But Springfield's story is no surprise. It's been deeply reported, and it makes plenty of sense. We've seen stories like it before, and we'll see more like it in the future.