Hours earlier than former President Donald Trump was set to take the stage at a marketing campaign rally in Uniondale on Lengthy Island on Wednesday, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Staff East, the nation’s largest healthcare union, held rallies at Brooklyn’s Interfaith Medical Middle in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Maimonides Medical Middle in Borough Park. The rallies condemned Trump’s latest racist assaults and hateful rhetoric towards Haitians.
Throughout a Sept. 10 presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump claimed, “In Springfield, they’re consuming the canines. The people who got here in, they’re consuming the cats. They’re consuming the pets of the people who dwell there.”
Though Trump didn’t specify the ethnicity of the migrants throughout the debate, his working mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, falsely claimed on social media a day earlier that Haitian immigrants have been abducting pets and wildlife in Springfield. Because the debate, Trump and Vance have doubled down on their conspiracy concept that Haitian immigrants steal and eat pets — claims Ohio officers have debunked.
In an interview with Martha Raddatz of ABC Information on Sunday, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine referred to as the claims “rubbish.” When requested if he had seen any proof of Haitian immigrants consuming pets, he stated, “No, completely not. That’s what the mayor stated; that’s what the chief of police has stated. I believe it’s unlucky that this got here up.”
On the rally at Maimonides Medical Middle, 1199SEIU healthcare staff stood in solidarity with their Haitian coworkers, condemning Trump’s rhetoric.
Rally-goers rejected Trump’s politics of hate and division, with some evaluating it to his remarks throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, when he referred to the virus because the “China Virus,” fueling anti-Asian hate crimes.
“This is identical knucklehead that was speaking concerning the China Virus, proper, and leading to lots of our of us within the Asian group being abused [and] assaulted. Phrases have which means,” Thomas McIntyre stated.
Allison Sylvestre, an authorized surgical technologist at Maimonides Medical Middle and an 1199SEIU delegate, attended the rally as a result of her youngsters are half Haitian, and he or she was involved for his or her security. Sylvestre stated she was shocked and perplexed when she heard the unfounded claims Trump and his working mate have been selling.
“Then after I noticed the information about how the folks within the neighborhood, they’re frightened of bringing their youngsters to high school and going out to locations, I used to be really involved,” Sylvestre advised Brooklyn Paper.
Sylvestre had a message for these shopping for into Trump’s false narrative: “We’re all on this collectively. We are literally collectively as one, and the one factor that separates us is the pores and skin colour. However in the event you minimize our pores and skin, it’s the identical blood flowing. We should always lead in love for each other. That’s one thing that doesn’t price $1. Not a dime.”
Marie Barolette, a Haitian American, fervently denounced the GOP presidential ticket’s declare that Haitians eat canines and cats, emphasizing that Haitian immigrants are hard-working and respectful folks.
“I don’t know the place he acquired that from. As a result of that’s very painful the best way he talks about Haitian folks,” stated Varolette, who owns a canine and a cat. “We by no means eat canines and cats. We deal with them like human beings. They’re like my infants.”
Abiola Benjamin, an 1199SEIU delegate, referred to as Trump’s remarks “under the belt” and expressed concern for Haitian public college college students in Springfield who have been being bullied due to Trump’s and Vance’s false claims.
“How do you as an individual sleep at night time realizing that you just put this narrative out on the planet?” Benjamin requested. “There are kids going to high school [and] that is one other means of bullying, they usually have too many youngsters, as it’s, killing themselves resulting from bullying.”
In New York State, 1000’s of 1199SEIU members are of Haitian descent and are thought-about the “spine” of the state’s healthcare system, rally-goers stated.
In a press release, George Gresham, president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Staff East, strongly condemned the “vicious, racist assaults by Donald Trump and JD Vance.”
“1199SEIU is proud to have many 1000’s of members who belong to the Haitian diaspora. The contributions of Haitians to the sector of healthcare and to our labor motion are extraordinary,” Gresham wrote. “We deeply worth the richness of tradition, language, and fortitude that Haitian communities add to the range of our nation.”
NYC Commissioner Manuel Castro of the Mayor’s Workplace of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) additionally weighed in, condemning the “racist and xenophobic” narrative about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.
“Lies like this are meant to divide us. They stoke worry and put our Haitian neighbors in peril,” he wrote in a press release. “Haitian New Yorkers contribute day-after-day to the vibrancy and energy of our Metropolis. We stand in solidarity with all Haitian-serving organizations right here in New York Metropolis and throughout the nation and demand that this narrative be faraway from all social media platforms. MOIA will proceed to work tirelessly to make sure that each Haitian in our group feels supported and valued, at this time and at all times.”
In response to the Metropolis of Springfield, between 12,000 and 15,000 immigrants, principally from Haiti, name Springfield dwelling. The vast majority of Haitian immigrants arrive in the US below Momentary Protected Standing, fleeing political unrest, gang violence, pure disasters and poverty.
At the least 33 bomb threats have been made in Springfield since Trump and Vance made their claims, forcing the evacuation of faculties and municipal buildings. Haitians now worry for his or her security and that of their youngsters.
Mia Perez, a Haitian immigration lawyer in Springfield, advised the Related Press that her 9-year-old daughter was requested about Haitians stealing and consuming pets at college.
“Children in class are being requested by different youngsters: ‘How does the canine style? How does the cat style?’” Perez stated.
Johnson Salomon, a Haitian immigrant who moved to Springfield in 2020, advised The Guardian that Haitians are staying away from their standard locations.
“Usually, after I drive by south Springfield, the place a number of Haitians dwell, you see folks strolling on the streets, on the Haitian markets and eating places,” Salomon stated. “For the previous few days, I’ve seen far fewer folks.”
At his rally Wednesday night, Trump didn’t immediately say that Haitian immigrants have been killing and consuming pets. Nonetheless, he advised the group he would go to Springfield within the subsequent two weeks.
“It’s possible you’ll by no means see me once more, however that’s okay. I acquired to do what I acquired to do. ‘No matter occurred to Trump? Effectively, he by no means acquired out of Springfield,’” Trump stated.
