Senator Vance is doubling down on claims that Haitian immigrants at Springfield, Ohio, may be stealing and eating neighbors pets. Yet local leaders say they are hoping to redirect the discussion to the problems that come with 20,000 migrants arriving in a town of 60,000 over the course of four years.

“After the election results come in and all the pundits are done using Springfield, Ohio, as a talking point, we are the ones who will continue to live with the long-term challenges of this population surge,” Clark County’s commissioner, Melanie Flax Wilt, said on Monday. 

Claims that Haitian migrants were stealing and eating neighborhood pets ran rampant on social media this week after the allegations were shared by Republican leaders, including the GOP vice presidential nominee, Senator Vance, and the House Judiciary Committee’s GOP faction. Such talk is being cited as evidence of Biden-Harris’s failed immigration policy. 

Springfield police, however, say that they have not received reports of any such incidents, and city officials say the allegations are preposterous. Mr. Vance, President Trump’s vice presidential running mate, doubled down on the allegations Tuesday, stating in a post on X that his office had received “many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who’ve said their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants.” 

The senator did not offer details on whether the calls or emails included actual evidence of acts of violence being committed against pets, and noted that “it’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.” 

However, he continued: “Do you know what’s confirmed? That a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here. That local health services have been overwhelmed. That communicable diseases — like TB and HIV — have been on the rise. That local schools have struggled to keep up with newcomers who don’t know English. That rents have risen so fast that many Springfield families can’t afford to put a roof over their head.”

Other politicians responded to the allegations — and the deluge of memes that followed — with incredulity. “What in the hell is this?” Congressman Eric Swalwell exclaimed during a hearing on Tuesday while pointing to a meme shared on X by the House Judiciary Committee’s GOP wing. The meme included an AI-generated image depicting President Trump cradling a kitten and a duck with the caption: “Protect our ducks and kittens in Ohio.” 

The Democratic representative of California was visibly exasperated by the meme, shaking his head and putting his hands over his eyes in disbelief. “Mr. Chairman, this is a serious issue,” Mr. Swalwell added.  

In the past four years, Springfield — which boasted around 58,000 residents in 2020 — has taken in nearly 20,000 Haitian migrants. The vast majority of Haitian migrants have come in legally, local media reports, and they are credited by local businesses with helping to reignite Springfield’s lagging post-pandemic economy, filling much-needed positions in warehouses, manufacturing, and the service industry. 

However, the migration flow has placed significant pressure on the town’s resources, leading to overcrowded local schools and health care systems. Over the summer, Springfield’s city manager, Bryan Heck, claimed that the city was facing “a significant housing crisis,” and he wrote a letter to Senators Scott and Brown requesting federal financial aid. 

“Without further support at the Federal level, communities like Springfield are set up to fail in being able to meet the housing needs of its residents,” Mr. Heck wrote in July. Rather than focusing on the pet-napping rumors, local officials are hoping to address the growing Haitian population by working on several key initiatives.  

Such measures include “launching a new driver’s training program, stabilizing infrastructure and funding locally, and helping newcomers assimilate to the community,” a local newspaper, the Springfield News-Sun, reported on Tuesday. 

“None of us were really prepared for this and so we are overwhelmed, but if we can take a step back and approach it with rational, practical solutions instead of fear and emotion, that’s the only way that we’re going to get through this as a community,” Ms. Flax Wilt said.