Town and Country

In Springfield, Ohio, about 20,000 Haitian immigrants moved into a town of about 58,000. “They are assembling car engines at Honda, running vegetable-packing machines at Dole and loading boxes at distribution centers. They are paying taxes on their wages and spending money at Walmart. On Sundays they gather at churches for boisterous, joyful services in Haitian Creole.” But immigration stories, even seemingly good ones, are never more than one event away from stirring up a heated debate. And those debates rarely remain local. “On a recent Saturday, about a dozen Nazi sympathizers — masked men in matching red shirts, black pants and boots — waved swastika flags as they marched in downtown Springfield near a jazz festival. At least two of the men, who authorities said were outsiders, carried rifles.” NYT (Gift Article): How an Ohio Town Landed in the Middle of the Immigration Debate. “Jobs attracted thousands of Haitians to Springfield, and employers were ecstatic. But then an immigrant driver was involved in a fatal school bus crash. And JD Vance entered the fray.”