David Marcus: Cats and dogs aside, Biden-Harris is a disaster for Springfield

There's an old saying in journalism that “when there's blood, it makes headlines,” meaning that when a violent incident occurs, the story gets more attention. Now, the list of journalism expressions has been expanded to include “when there's blood, it makes headlines.”

Let me start by saying that I'm not trying to solve the “missing pet mystery.” Frankly, at this point, even if Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot teamed up, the details are still murky. And besides, it's not that important.

Senate candidate Moreno claims Biden-Harris caused Springfield immigration crisis

Whatever the scale of the threat to our furry friends, this salacious story has rightfully focused the public's attention on Springfield's previously ignored immigration and economic issues brought about by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

“When I was growing up, there was a bar on every corner, some playing music, some playing disco,” Teri, a woman in her 60s who works at downtown Springfield's only hotel, told me. “It's completely different now.”

Though not unique to the Midwest, a certain kind of town and city found throughout it boasts ghostly grandeur of old architecture that mocks the quiet decay of its cracked windows and vacant storefronts, and Springfield is the Platonic ideal of just such a place.

Under Biden and Harris' open border policies and near-unlimited refugee admissions policies, a new influx of migrants, mostly from Haiti, is dashing hopes of recovery.

Vicky, who retired and lives just outside of town, also shared stories of old Springfield, including trips to Woolworth with her grandmother and bustling markets, and is passionate about bringing back the sparkle to downtown.

As part of that effort, a farmers' market is being organised on Saturdays. It was sparsely attended but a lovely market, but there was no sign of the refugees being integrated into the wider community. The same could be seen next door to a new food hall that is intended to be a community gathering place.

I asked her whether she thought the government had adequately prepared the city for an influx of 20,000 Haitian immigrants, and whether she thought there was a strong support system in place. She smiled and said, “No, not at all.”

The reason I ask is because I was in Harrisonburg, Virginia, just a month or so ago. Harrisonburg is an official federal refugee city, and it has taken in tens of thousands of refugees over the past few decades. As I wrote then, it was remarkable how proud the people there, both on the refugee side and on the refugee side, were of how well the administration of the program was going and how it was helping assimilate newcomers.

There are English classes, job training and temporary housing available, but Vicky says many of these things are in such short supply in Springfield that creating such programs on an ad-hoc basis is a waste of resources and makes life difficult.

“I was at the DMV,” she told me, “and it was taking forever. The customer was speaking seven languages, and no one at the front desk could translate.”

It's not as sexy as barbecued pets, but it's just one of the many hassles this badly managed refugee scheme has created, and many residents are clearly feeling overwhelmed by it.

People line up for food at the food pantry at St. John's Lutheran Church on September 13, 2024 in Springfield, Ohio.

Another striking difference between Harrisonburg’s success and Springfield’s disaster is that the former saw the arrival of around 150-200 refugees per year for several decades – something that could be managed and planned for, whereas in Springfield thousands arrived per year, turning the situation into a full-blown emergency.

Only a few factory owners and city governments seem content with the situation. In a video that went viral this week on CBS News, one such employer said, “Our Haitian employees come to work every day, they don't have a drug problem, they're going to continue to sit at the machines. They're here to work.”

This is very similar to comments made by Clark County Health Commissioner Chris Cook, who told the Dayton Daily News in October 2023 that employers “are happy that their employees are coming to work every day, passing drug tests, putting in the overtime and hard work.”

Residents have little to no confidence in this routine argument.

Click here to read more FOX News Opinion

No one I spoke to expressed hostility toward the immigrants themselves. “It's not their fault — they were told to be here — but the government needs to do more, much more,” said Yolanda, a black woman in her 30s who works as an Uber driver.

Unfortunately, Vice President Kamala Harris doesn't seem interested in these pleas. She accepted the pleas, but now it's an issue for the good people of Springfield. There is no plan for her and Biden, or whoever is running the country.

So while fools on the left are calling righteous anger racist, jokers on the right are spreading cat memes online, and Springfield residents are caught in the middle, with many feeling mocked.

Click here to get the FOX News app

I spoke with a man in his twenties who lives in Minneapolis, where he's in town for a job maintaining cranes but faces similar immigration issues, and he summed it up best he could: immigrants need to be taught to “tend to garden in a way that suits the American way of life.”

In Springfield, as in much of the country, that isn't happening, and both native-born Americans and immigrants are paying a very high price.

To read more articles by David Marcus click here