Ohio Senate candidate slams 'corrupt' politicians over Springfield migrant crisis: 'Citizens are paying the price'

Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno slammed “corrupt” politicians over the migrant crisis in Springfield, Ohio, saying it shows Democrats have “forgotten” that they “work for the American people.”

“First of all, we don't even know how many Haitian immigrants were brought to Springfield, Ohio,” Bernie Moreno, a businessman running against Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, for the Republican nomination, told Fox News Digital.

“That's question number one. Question number two: Why on earth would you bring this many people to a small community like Springfield, which doesn't have the infrastructure, the health care system, the education system, and it's going to cost tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to get them there?”

Moreno continued, “America has very important priorities. We have people in need, Americans who need housing, Americans who are suffering from the high inflation that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have caused. Why on earth are we taking precious resources from the American taxpayer and using it for foreign profit? That's the real question in Springfield that remains unanswered.”

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Springfield, Ohio, has been in the national spotlight in recent weeks for the influx of tens of thousands of Haitian migrants into the city of 60,000 people, where residents say the infrastructure is not equipped to handle them all and that crime is on the rise.

“It feels like we're living in a dystopian nightmare,” Springfield resident Diana Daniels told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday. “You hope you wake up and it's 2019, but all of a sudden it's 2024 and it's the same old thing every day. It's hard sometimes to wake up in the morning and hear about the struggles of people you've known for years. This is paycheck to paycheck… a working class town. People who rely on social services like health care and Rocking Horse, who go to the Social Security office to get their benefits, are waiting in line and not getting the services they need.”

Moreno told Fox News Digital that Brown and Biden are “50-year career politicians” who “forget that they work for the American people.”

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Rose Groot Creole Restaurant in Springfield, Ohio is a popular Haitian restaurant that opened in August 2023. (Fox News)

“The election is about whose side you're on. Are you going to be on the side of Haiti and Haitians, who obviously we all identify with, and people who are suffering all around the world? Or are you going to be on the side of Americans, American workers, American families, who are seeing their health care costs go up dramatically, their taxes go up, their insurance premiums go up, their grocery bills go up? What are you going to do about it?”

“Bringing 5 percent of the population of this poor country to America, clashing two cultures and landing them in a place like Springfield, Ohio, where they're depriving the American people of the benefits they should be getting, is not going to help them in any way,” Moreno added.

Moreno echoed Daniels' concerns, explaining that residents who have a “right” to use the resources they pay for are “lining up behind Haitian immigrants.”

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People line up for food at a food pantry at St. John's Lutheran Church in Springfield, Ohio, on September 13, 2024. (Fox News/Max Bekol)

“They shouldn't be in this country in the first place,” Moreno said. “That's ultimately what's happening and why this story is so important, because it's an authentically American story. Do we want to have America-first politicians like President Trump and what I'm trying to do, like J.D. Vance, in elected office in Washington, D.C.? Or do we want political leaders who are in place forever? These career politicians are putting foreign interests first. That's ultimately what this election comes down to.”

Moreno, who immigrated to the US from Colombia as a child, told Fox News Digital that fellow legal immigrants are “fed up” with a culture where “you're rewarded for skipping the line” and receiving “preferential treatment for whatever reason.”

“For example, temporary protected status — 'temporary' is the key word here — is supposed to be given to people who have an emergency in their home country and need to stay for a few months,” Moreno said.

“Instead, we use it to get people to come to this country permanently. This jumps the line for millions of people who want to come to this country. Why do we favor Haiti? There is suffering all over the world. India, Africa, my home country, Colombia. There is suffering everywhere. Why do we favor some countries and not others? The answer is because there are special interests that bribe these politicians, fund these nonprofits and pay their CEOs huge salary. It's all about money and the people who pay the price, and the citizens of Springfield, Ohio.”

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Sen. Sherrod Brown votes on Jan. 23, 2024, at the U.S. Capitol. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Moreno also took issue with prominent Democrats and public figures he said were not taking the issue seriously.

“And we have corrupt politicians like Sherrod Brown hanging out with fellow Hollywood celebrities like John Legend, who, incidentally, sits in his bathrobe in his multi-million dollar mansion saying the people of Springfield, Ohio, should be welcome,” Moreno said.

“Why don't we give them housing? Why don't these immigrants go to Beverly Hills and live in two- and three-bedroom houses with 16 or 18 other people? And why don't his kids go to school with immigrants who don't speak a word of English and whose culture is totally different from ours? Of course, these are the elite of this country and they don't want us, the people, to have to live with the consequences of their stupid policies.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Senator Brown and the White House but did not receive a response.