SPRINGFIELD, OH - During a recent meeting with the Springfield City Commission, Mayor Rob Rue said that city officials were "in the dark" about a large immigrant population, many illegal, relocating to the area, but that a "network of businesses knew what was coming."
The Springfield News-Sun reported that an investigation by the city's Immigrant Accountability Response Team has revealed that some companies possibly knew that they were going to take in individuals who were crossing the southern border based on "federal regulations" allowing them to do so.
Mayor Rue said, "There were companies that knew they were going to make an effort to bring in individuals who were crossing the border based on federal regulations that they could to that ... I'm upset at the fact we didn't get a change to have an infrastructure in place if there were going to be 20,000 more people from 2020 to 2025. We didn't get to do that."
During the meeting when the talked turned to Haitian immigration infiltrating the city, Rue said, "Springfield is now saturated." When asked by a city resident how many more illegal immigrants might be coming to the area and about city interactions "with the people who have planned this," Rue said, "We're not interacting with them, we're investigating."
The mayor later said that the city investigations are ongoing and that a report would be forthcoming once they are assured that they can do so "without compromising any potential legal action." Rue added, "We want to make sure that they investigation is complete and we don't ruin the investigation of anything before we're able to speak to it." State and federal agencies are also involved in the investigations.
The city formed the Immigrant Accountability Response Team back in October 2023 in response to community outrage following a fatal accident involving a Northwestern school bus hit by a minivan that was being driven by an unlicensed Haitian driver. The man crossed in front of the bus, causing it to overturn resulting in the death of an 11-year-old boy and injuries to nearly two dozen children.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, 36-year-old Hermanio Joseph was found guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter. The 11-year-old identified as Aiden Clark, died after being ejected from the school bus. During the trial, Joseph testified that the sun was in his eyes, which caused him to be unable to see the bus and avoid the crash.
Joseph did not have a valid Ohio driver's license and instead provided the Ohio Highway State police troopers who were investigating the crash with a driver's license from Mexico. Joseph was sentenced on May 21st and is now appealing the convictions.
Rue said that the Immigration Accountability Response Team is compromised of a group of city staff members and has focused its investigation on three areas: immigration employment, housing, an driver instruction. The group is also consulting with state and federal investigative agencies in conjunction with those issues.
Rue said that if the city had known what to expect, the city would have taken steps to hire "25 more police officers and 25 firefighters ... along with making sure individuals already living here and faithfully paying rent would not be displaced because of the greed of landlords. Rue added, "We would have been ahead of that or tried to combat it ... we did not get to do that."
The mayor clarified that Springfield is not a sanctuary city. While city officials adopted a resolution 10 years ago declaring Springfield a "welcoming city," Rue said, "That doesn't mean we are actively bringing immigrants into our community that can't handle the influx of folks." Rue also criticized the federal government for permitting expanded immigration while providing no support to the communities absorbing thousands of illegal immigrants.
He said, "We have taken this to our congressman ... we should have the right amount of safety forces to take care of everyone who is here. If we have 12 to 15 thousand people than we have budgeted to care for, we're in trouble."
The Springfield News-Sun reported that an investigation by the city's Immigrant Accountability Response Team has revealed that some companies possibly knew that they were going to take in individuals who were crossing the southern border based on "federal regulations" allowing them to do so.
Mayor Rue said, "There were companies that knew they were going to make an effort to bring in individuals who were crossing the border based on federal regulations that they could to that ... I'm upset at the fact we didn't get a change to have an infrastructure in place if there were going to be 20,000 more people from 2020 to 2025. We didn't get to do that."
During the meeting when the talked turned to Haitian immigration infiltrating the city, Rue said, "Springfield is now saturated." When asked by a city resident how many more illegal immigrants might be coming to the area and about city interactions "with the people who have planned this," Rue said, "We're not interacting with them, we're investigating."
The mayor later said that the city investigations are ongoing and that a report would be forthcoming once they are assured that they can do so "without compromising any potential legal action." Rue added, "We want to make sure that they investigation is complete and we don't ruin the investigation of anything before we're able to speak to it." State and federal agencies are also involved in the investigations.
The city formed the Immigrant Accountability Response Team back in October 2023 in response to community outrage following a fatal accident involving a Northwestern school bus hit by a minivan that was being driven by an unlicensed Haitian driver. The man crossed in front of the bus, causing it to overturn resulting in the death of an 11-year-old boy and injuries to nearly two dozen children.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, 36-year-old Hermanio Joseph was found guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter. The 11-year-old identified as Aiden Clark, died after being ejected from the school bus. During the trial, Joseph testified that the sun was in his eyes, which caused him to be unable to see the bus and avoid the crash.
Joseph did not have a valid Ohio driver's license and instead provided the Ohio Highway State police troopers who were investigating the crash with a driver's license from Mexico. Joseph was sentenced on May 21st and is now appealing the convictions.
Rue said that the Immigration Accountability Response Team is compromised of a group of city staff members and has focused its investigation on three areas: immigration employment, housing, an driver instruction. The group is also consulting with state and federal investigative agencies in conjunction with those issues.
Rue said that if the city had known what to expect, the city would have taken steps to hire "25 more police officers and 25 firefighters ... along with making sure individuals already living here and faithfully paying rent would not be displaced because of the greed of landlords. Rue added, "We would have been ahead of that or tried to combat it ... we did not get to do that."
The mayor clarified that Springfield is not a sanctuary city. While city officials adopted a resolution 10 years ago declaring Springfield a "welcoming city," Rue said, "That doesn't mean we are actively bringing immigrants into our community that can't handle the influx of folks." Rue also criticized the federal government for permitting expanded immigration while providing no support to the communities absorbing thousands of illegal immigrants.
He said, "We have taken this to our congressman ... we should have the right amount of safety forces to take care of everyone who is here. If we have 12 to 15 thousand people than we have budgeted to care for, we're in trouble."
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Comments
2024-07-16T09:34-0500 | Comment by: Bruce
Would be interesting to find out who these unnamed businesses are.