Republicans at the highest levels of government are pushing a bizarre message: Haitian immigrants are killing and eating pets.
One of the most high-profile spreaders of this outlandish claim is Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance. Monday morning, Vance has been posted X falsely claims that “reports now show that people have had their pets kidnapped and eaten by people who should not be in this country.” In the same tweet, he claimed that “Haitian illegal immigrants” are “causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio.”
For the record, there is no evidence that any Haitian immigrant has ever eaten a cat in Springfield, Ohio or anywhere else in the United States. But the lack of real evidence hasn’t stopped the GOP from pushing the nativist narrative, which seems designed to stoke bigotry and suspicion of Haitian immigrants against the mostly black population.
More than 300,000 formerly unauthorized immigrants from Haiti Granted temporary protected status in JuneWhich means these Haitian immigrants are now — despite Vance’s suggestion otherwise — legally present in the United States. Still, the attacks by Vance and other Republicans on these immigrants come at a time when more Americans have become skeptical of immigration.
Shortly after President Joe Biden took office, the United States experienced a surge of immigrants at its southern border — much of it fueled by unrest in several Caribbean and Latin American countries following the Covid-19 pandemic. Republicans used this wave of migration to attack Biden’s border policy and claim there was a crisis at the border. Meanwhile, efforts by Republican leaders to settle border states have sent large groups of immigrants to cities and towns across the country, exposing many Americans to immigrants for the first time.
All of this comes amid a competitive 2024 presidential race, in which both candidates have rushed to cast themselves as tough on immigration. Former President Donald Trump has long campaigned on restricting immigration, while Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has touted a tougher border security bill that she supports — and which Trump pushed her fellow Republicans to kill.
These factors—perhaps much of the rise in anti-immigrant sentiment—perhaps explain why a sitting senator claims it’s wise to share a meme that says if Americans don’t vote for former President Donald Trump, immigrants will eat your cat.
Where does the false claim that Haitian immigrants are eating pets come from?
The idea of Haitians walking the streets kidnapping pets seems to have originated from Vance’s Ohio State.
The Springfield Police Division said Monday that it happened No report Any pets that have been stolen or eaten in the city. However, there was apparently an incident in Canton, Ohio — about a three-hour drive from Springfield — where a woman was charged with animal cruelty for allegedly killing and eating a cat. But there is no evidence that this woman is of Haitian descent.
Despite a lack of evidence, the woman appears to have been identified as being of Haitian descent Far right tweet.
In recent days, the completely unsubstantiated rant against Haitian immigrants has begun to spread beyond the right-wing space after several prominent right-wing figures credibly tweeted it. Sunday, provocateur Charlie Kirk Tweet the claimIncluding a screenshot of a pseudonymous Facebook post that suggests Haitian immigrants are butchering and eating dogs in Springfield. Shortly thereafter, Billionaire Elon Musk “Eating People’s Pet Cats.”
By Monday morning, the claim had spread to Vance — before being picked up by other prominent elected Republicans and official Republican Party accounts.
Republicans want to put nativist sentiment front and center in this election
Vance has long tried to stir up anti-Haitian sentiment in Springfield, a small Ohio town that recently attracted 20,000 Haitians Looking for jobs in newly opened factories and warehouses. Tensions between the new immigrants and some of the city’s more longtime residents rose after a Haitian immigrant was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for a fatal bus crash in 2023. Vance claims the city is “overwhelmed” by new residents.
Meanwhile, skepticism about immigration has grown nationally in recent years as immigration at the southern border has increased.
So it’s not surprising that many prominent members belong to the Republican Party, a party that frequently Flag isolated crimes committed by immigrants To fuel nativist sentiment, a baseless Internet rumor about Haitians and cats as “proof” presents immigrants as a problem (which Republicans can solve).
Still, none of this context changes the fact that Republicans see nothing wrong with the party’s top U.S. senator, and even one of the party’s two statewide candidates, spreading racist, completely baseless rumors. Far right troll
