amplified a torrent of inflammatory and xenophobic allegations against Haitian immigrants, accompanied by baseless insinuations that
The vitriolic attacks came from Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and every member of the GOP’s presidential ticket. Vice presidential candidate’s inflammatory remark describes Haitian migrants as “unlawful immigrants” responsible for “inflicting chaos.”
The analysis perpetuates worn-out clichés, attempting to link Haitian immigrants to a plethora of issues, from the mundane to the complex.
As Republican candidates seek to make immigration a contentious issue in the November election, they are strategically capitalizing on. The recent surge in assaults has sparked concerns, coinciding with the Biden administration’s efforts to process a significant number of new arrivals at the border.
Despite the emphasis placed by the GOP on these stereotypes, they have actually been around for a long time.
According to experts, such brutal attacks stem from a deep-seated legacy of anti-Black prejudice and xenophobia that has historically been leveraged to rationalize restrictive immigration policies targeting Haitians specifically. The decision to resurface the roads in 2024 perpetuates a noticeably detrimental environment, further entrenching its problematic legacy.
“A sociologist and the Dean of Humanities at Morehouse College cautions that the phenomenon is rooted in an antiquated historical dataset,” “The notion that they might commit such a heinous act, utterly at odds with American values.” “That’s the mentality below, implying that people from different backgrounds will never truly understand our perspective.”
Anti-Haitian racism has deep roots
Violent attacks on Haitian migrants tap into the deep-seated notion in the United States that Haiti represents a threat.
“Racism and xenophobia towards Haitians among white Americans can be traced back to the Haitian Revolution when Haitians overthrew the slave system and established the world’s first black republic,” said Carl Lindskoog, author of a book, in an interview with Vox. “Subsequently, Haitians have often been viewed with suspicion by many whites, who perceived them as a threat to their authority and treated them accordingly.”
In 1804, Haiti successfully shook off French colonial rule and the shackles of slavery. Despite Haiti’s historic victory, the United States refused to recognize its independence for nearly six years, seemingly unconcerned about the prospect of encouraging similar rebellions among enslaved people in America.
After the revolution, Haiti was forced to borrow money to meet its financial demands, as it lacked a colonial legacy to fall back on. The US and France leveraged these loans as a pretext to exert long-term control over Haiti’s financial resources. Discovered that the burdensome reparations to France have saddled Haiti’s financial system with a crippling debt of $21 billion, precipitating widespread poverty and economic woes that persist to this day.
From 1915 to 1934, the US exerted control over Haiti under the guise of ensuring political stability following the assassinations of multiple Haitian leaders, more than a century after the country’s successful revolution. To prevent France and Germany from gaining a foothold in the region, the occupation was mounted with strategic significance in mind. Over the course of this period, the United States government negotiated treaties that allowed for the acquisition of large tracts of Haitian land by American companies.
The intervention sent a damaging signal: that Haiti was incapable of managing its own domestic issues.
“A sociologist at Bowdoin College notes that various students have discussed the rhetorical devices employed to justify invasions as a means of ‘civilizing’ societies.” “This stereotype of Haitians as primitive, violent, and harmful has persisted over time. One example of how Haiti’s association with voodoo practices continues to fuel this notion is the recent reference by self-help guru Marianne Williamson, who ran in the Democratic presidential primaries in 2020 and 2024, which reinforces the misconception that they are a ‘mysterious … migrant other,’ notes Gow.”
Since then, the United States’ handling of Haitian immigrant cases has built upon and reinforced these principles. During the 1970s, a significant influx of Haitian migrants arrived in the US, seeking refuge from political turmoil at home. Despite meeting the standard criteria for asylum, many were nonetheless denied, highlighting the stark disparities in the treatment of asylum seekers.
The implementation of these practices established a concerning precedent for the detention of asylum-seekers, one that the US continues to utilize punitively even today. In a landmark 1980 decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the US government had engaged in egregious racial discrimination by targeting Haitian immigrants with biased immigration policies. In the wake of this resolution, President Jimmy Carter and his subsequent administrations. Between 1994 and 1995, as a significant influx of Cuban and Haitian migrants arrived in the US during the same period, Haitians were disproportionately affected by.
Despite efforts to break the cycle of prejudice, the stigma surrounding Haitian immigrants persisted for many years, perpetuating harmful associations between their nationality and diseases like HIV. During the early 1980s, before HIV/AIDS had been scientifically identified, the acronym referred to “Haitians, Homosexuals, Hemophiliacs, and Heroin users,” largely due to initial cases involving Haitian individuals, which contributed to stigma surrounding the disease.
In the 1990s, a confluence of factors including widespread HIV concerns and the stigmatization of Haitian immigrants as vectors of disease contributed to the US government’s decision to detain Haitian asylum seekers at Guantanamo Bay. Thousands had been detained and deported, while others faced the threat of indefinite detention. This is merely one chapter in the long history of the US government employing xenophobic tactics to impede the entry of immigrants – a practice revisited.
Both the Trump and Biden administrations employed Title 42, Section 265, a public health statute, to expel migrants at the border due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being one of the largest groups rejected at the southern border, Haitians were frequently denied entry due to questionable criteria.
Assaults on Haitians have been consistently evident throughout both administrations, including Trump’s own disparaging reference to the country as a “shithole” nation, and incidents where border patrol officers confronted Haitian immigrants under Biden.
The vast majority of such violent attacks are punishable by law.
As the latest Republican Party rhetoric takes hold in Springfield, Ohio, its venomous effects are palpable and causing tangible harm.
Since President Trump addressed the conspiracy on Tuesday, it has gained widespread traction, with unfounded claims about immigrants proliferating unchecked.
As a result of escalating tensions, Haitian immigrant families in Springfield, the city at the epicenter of the controversy surrounding school boards, are experiencing property damage and keeping their children home from school due to safety concerns.
In response to a suspected bomb threat, measures were taken to ensure the safety and security of the public. The official has stated that he attributes these incidents to the claims surrounding Haitian migrants.
As the southwestern Illinois city of Springfield, home to around 60,000 residents, has undergone significant changes since 2020, it finds itself under scrutiny by Republicans. Approximately 15,000 Haitian residents have relocated to Springfield seeking employment opportunities, bringing about a significant surge in population that has revitalized the city; however, this influx has also led to longer wait times at medical facilities and increased competition for affordable housing, fostering resentment among some long-time residents towards the newcomers.
That anger had been escalating since 2023, particularly after the devastating college bus crash that claimed the life of 11-year-old Aiden Clark, fueled by outrage towards the driver, who happened to be a Haitian immigrant. The specter of Lori Ann Clark’s tragic death has been exploited by Republicans and far-right commentators to stoke fear and xenophobia, exploiting the tragedy for political gain.
The vitriolic rhetoric surrounding Haitian immigration has led to a disturbing proliferation of misinformation, with neo-Nazis and certain Republican lawmakers fabricating outlandish claims that Haitian immigrants are devouring not just domestic pets, but also geese in local parks? While there is no concrete evidence to support this claim, Springfield law enforcement officials have expressed skepticism about the notion. In a bizarre incident in Canton, Ohio, a woman with no connection to the Caribbean or foreign heritage consumed a feline in an unusual turn of events.
While tropes surrounding the consumption of pets by certain groups are hardly novel, they have a long history of being leveraged to stigmatize and ostracize immigrant populations in the United States. By perpetuating such racialized tropes, Republicans are able to cast a long shadow of illegitimacy over immigrant communities, including Haitians, effectively rendering them “eternally foreign” and fueling hostility towards them. The focus on pet care, particularly, serves to diminish the humanity of immigrants, implying they are incapable of caring for their own families and might pose a threat to people’s well-being if allowed to settle.
“Conversing in such a manner, perpetuating misinformation, has severe consequences as it may lead individuals to take action based on this information, regardless of its absurdity, potentially causing harm to others.” John Kirby, a White House spokesperson, stated at a press conference on Tuesday that “it must cease”.
Vance downplayed concerns about these issues after Tuesday’s presidential debate, when asked to share his thoughts. What appears to be a more significant drawback from my perspective is that “Did I just hear him insult 20,000 people by implying they cannot live life because of Kamala Harris opening the border?”
As US history shows all too clearly – and the crises faced by Springfield this week starkly illustrate – the harmful ideologies of racism can have a devastating impact on policy decisions, leading to swift and severe consequences.
