It's Not About Cats or Haitians: Why It's Not Racist to Question Importing Millions of Poor Migrants

The most memorable moment of the first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was his assertion that in Springfield, OH "they are eating the dogs, the people that came in, they are eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there." The quote has inspired several surprisingly catchy songs and accusations of racism and xenophobia. The statement is based on assertions by residents of Springfield. It has supposedly been debunked because the city manager said he has no credible evidence of pets being taken, despite residents of the town continuing to suggest it is happening. Either they are lying because they hate Haitians or they are accurately describing their experience of the Haitian influx to their town. Are the descriptions xenophobic only if they are false or because they are shared publicly at all?

Accusations of racism or xenophobia are reflexive responses to any possibly negative assertion about black or migrant subjects. It does not matter if the assertions are true. Predictably, a video has surfaced on social media featuring a migrant grilling cats. Those suggesting that the Springfield statement has been debunked will note that the video takes place in Dayton and that the man in the video is from the Republic of Congo. Rather than debunking the assertion it lends strength to the idea that people from the poorest nation in the hemisphere with a history of eating cats and a religion utilizing animal sacrifice are likely the cause of missing pets. Along with the statements of pets being eaten, Springfield residents have also highlighted the massive increase in auto accidents. On the first day of the 2023 school year an unlicensed Haitian migrant plowed into a school bus killing an 11 year old and injuring 26 other children. Some residents assert that there are 8-10 accidents a day. They have complained about the increase in auto insurance rates that are the result of all the accidents. Unlike the idea that Haitian residents are eating cats, there is no dispute that there has been an increase in auto accidents. Still, I have been accused of causing harm by sharing these concerns from Springfield residents. The accuracy of statements about migrants clearly has no impact on accusations of xenophobia for the individual making statements. The actual problem seems to be noticing that there are impacts from mass migration at all. 

Just to be clear, the statement about eating pets went viral because it was sensational, not because it was the most important aspect of this story (except, possibly, to those missing pets). What is important about the story is the unprecedented influx of migrants into the country and the impact on our citizens and their lives. The reflexive need to call others xenophobic ignores that  migrants have crossed the southern border or been flown in by the Biden/Harris administration at historic rates, far more than we have been able to accurately count. This situation is completely unrelated to our ongoing discussion about how best to do immigration legally. It is the deliberate creation of a unique problem itself. The numbers are overwhelming the resources of major population centers, like New York City and Chicago. They are thoroughly changing the character of towns like Springfield, OH with a population around 60,000 accepting 20,000 Haitian migrants and Charleroi, PA, with a population of 4,000 accepting 2,000 Haitian migrants. Their experiences have been ignored and likely would continue to be ignored if not for the viral moment. It is impossible to confront and alleviate challenging problems without being able to name them. Obviously, those accusing others of xenophobia for naming the problems are uninterested in alleviating the problems. The most obvious first step to dealing with our migrant crisis is stopping the incursion of economic migrants. For those not directly confronted by these issues, the conflict between stopping the wave of migration and their luxury beliefs supporting all migrants, would epitomize xenophobia. There are plenty examples that we need to confront this self imposed blindness or suicidal empathy before it leads to our harm.

Despite denials by the Colorado governor and local government, residents in Aurora, CO have been accosted by Venezuelan gangs and ignored until the situation went viral. We are aware of the issues in Springfield, OH because the claims of eaten pets went viral. There have been numerous examples of illegal migrants raping and killing women and children and killing citizens while driving drunk. How many other towns are being destroyed by the invasion of a large number of migrants and left to deal on their own? How many deaths by migrants released from police custody or paroled into the country will we tolerate? The consequences of the Harris-Biden administration fall most heavily on the poor and working class and those with the least power and social cache. Concerns from those communities don't usually make it to the national discourse, even riding the back of sensationalism. Although the media continues to focus on the pet eating story, the actual nature of the destruction of Springfield and other small towns is a growing narrative. As people realize that what is happening to their towns is not unique they are speaking up in numbers, while still mostly being ignored by the media framing concerns as a form of hate. Our saving grace may be that we are growing immune to accusations of racism and xenophobia as every thought or complaint is labeled racist and xenophobic. It is arguable that a fear of being labeled racist was one barrier to protecting young working class girls from sexual assault in the UK.

Seven men have been sentenced to a combined 106 years in the trial over the systemic sexual abuse of girls in Rotham in the UK. I first heard of grooming gangs two years ago from Brits on social media. The story seems impossible. Starting in the late 80s there is a growing number of reports of Pakistani immigrants raping and sexually abusing young girls. The claims were essentially ignored by the government, police and media until at least a decade later. The current estimate is that there are at least 1,400 victims. While the latest trial focused on crimes in Rotham, the reports come from working class towns across England. There are numerous reasons attributed to the failure to address this child exploitation. The two most relevant here is that officials were afraid to be seen as racist against a cultural and religious minority. A parallel might be practitioners of Voodoo from Haiti in a mostly white midwestern US town. The other important reason is a degree of apathy over the lives of poor working class girls, similar to the way the US media has been apathetic about working class US citizens losing their jobs and homes to the wave of migrants to their communities.

While the spotlight is on sensational claims of eaten pets, there is a growing interest in what the spotlight obscures, the real concerns we're not meant to focus on. There are numerous questions that are as important to the nation as a whole as to these small communities. This is not a crisis the Harris-Biden administration has been forced to deal with, it is one they created. It seems strange that the media will not ask them why. The negative impacts of inviting millions of migrants with vastly different cultures, many not speaking English, are predictable. It places a strain on resources, shrinks wages, drives up the cost of housing and basic goods, retards wages, increases unemployment and leads to the exploitation of those migrants. US workers are being replaced by Haitian migrants granted work visas willing to take less pay, and likely unaware that they deserve more. The cognitively addled career politician and career prosecutor are fueling fentanyl and human trafficking with their policies. Illegal migrants to our southern border arrive there by paying large sums to 'coyotes' allowing their passage or transporting them. There are reports that hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border are unaccounted for. It is obvious that the Harris-Biden administration has made no plans to address or alleviate the negative consequences of their policies and refuse to acknowledge that there are any. Since the media refuses to talk about it, the people suffering these negative consequences are beginning to ask if the destruction is deliberate. Increasingly, they are refusing to be cowed by the idea that addressing their own concerns and asking questions is hatred.