section_path: 2024 presidential election/Comments on Haitian immigrants
section_name: Comments on Haitian immigrants
paragraph_text: Comments on Haitian immigrants
  
  In September 2024, Vance made allegations of "Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country". Trump subsequently echoed the allegations, including during a presidential debate. Springfield authorities said there were "no credible reports or specific claims" of such incidents and that "Haitian immigrants are here legally". Vance then said that it was "possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false", but also told his supporters to "keep the cat memes flowing". He then promoted conservative activist Christopher Rufo 's allegation that African migrants were eating cats in Dayton, Ohio; Dayton authorities reported "no evidence to even remotely suggest that any group, including our immigrant community, is engaged in eating pets".
  
  After Vance's claim about Haitians eating pets was disputed, he said: "Do you know what's confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here"; the child had actually died in an accidental collision between vehicles in Springfield, and the child's father criticized Vance for using the child's "death for political gain". Vance also alleged a "massive rise in communicable diseases" in Springfield, but Clark County 's health commissioner reported having "not seen a substantial increase in all reportable communicable diseases". After Vance's and Trump's allegations, Springfield experienced multiple bomb threats in September. Vance denounced "violence or the threat of violence levied against Springfield", but continued his allegations against immigrants there. He defended his claims about Haitian migrants eating cats, saying that he was willing "to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention... we're creating a story, meaning we're creating the American media focusing on it."