Haitian Americans in Illinois, including Attorney General Kwame Raoul, are calling former President Donald Trump’s amplification of a false rumor about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating pets “dangerous” to a community that has already experienced trauma in their native country.
During Tuesday’s debate, Trump brought up a debunked far-right claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are stealing pets to eat. While debate moderator David Muir interjected to say there are no credible reports of the claims, Trump fought back and said that “the people on television [are] saying, ‘my dog was taken and used for food.’” Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris responded with a laugh and said, “Talk about extreme.”
Raoul, the son of Haitian immigrants, called Trump’s mention of the false claim “super-audacious fear-mongering.”
“It just reflected his incompetence and instability,” Raoul said.
Raoul said it’s also a disservice to Haitians who have already experienced instability in their native country — and he called it dangerous “because others follow blindly and will repeat it.” Gangs have overtaken Port-au-Prince, with more than 578,000 Haitians fleeing their homes since 2021. The country’s airport and main hospitals are also closed.
“We’re at a time where conditions in Haiti in particular are dire, and there’s an instability there and absolutely it does, unquestionably lead to folks wanting to immigrate, but the hate that could come towards people who have been traumatized so much,” Raoul said. “It’s also just hundreds of thousands of Haitian Americans like me who, who are making contributions to the country, who could be targeted.”
Raoul also spoke out in 2018 when Trump called Haiti, El Salvador and African nations “s- – – – – -e countries,” calling the former president “unfit” and “unknowledgeable about the history of this country.”
The mention was also upsetting to Skokie resident Marleen Julien, a Haiti native who has lived in America for 35 years. She called it a way for Trump and Republicans to divide people — and she said it’s specifically targeting a humanitarian program under President Joe Biden that allowed Haitian Americans to come to the U.S. legally due to unrest in the country.
“I’m not a very political person, but I think it’s a way to dehumanize us, absolutely. It’s to divide the people,” Julien said. “They’re coming legally, and I think that’s what the Republicans, they’re starting this to show you how when the borders are open, the immigrants start eating cats, just like he was saying that Mexicans are rapists. That’s exactly what he’s doing, but this time, he’s using us.”
Since his first presidential campaign began in 2015, Trump has called Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists.
Julien, who employs 50 people in Haiti, operates a translation company called Creole Solutions in Skokie. She came to the U.S. when she was 10, and she said the former president’s claim is especially upsetting to her because it may hurt her children.
“I’m very upset, because I have two children, two Haitian American children, and I’m thinking about in the 1980s when I was in high school, kids used to make fun of me. They were saying Haitians have AIDS, and that really had an impact on me as a Haitian, and I think it’s going to have the same impact on Haitian American kids at school or just getting jobs here. It’s very disheartening.”
For Aline Lauture, a member of the board of directors of the DuSable Heritage Association, the falsehoods about Haitian immigrants hit her like a “gut punch” because she grew up in Haiti until she was 15 years old and still has some family there.
“I haven’t cried yet, but I’m so angry I could cry,” she said. “You don’t bother fact checking. You don’t bother getting with the police department, with the mayor, the organizations. You have a campaign staff and you spew this lie?”
Lauture has worked with Haitian immigrants in the area through her work as program director for immigrants and migrant affairs with the Haitian Congress to Fortify Haiti. The organization helps connect resources to those who arrive in the Chicago area. She says the common denominator among those fleeing the gang violence and poverty in Haiti is a desire for work.
“They didn’t just decide, OK, I’m just going to flee. These are people who had jobs and schools were running and everyone was living their lives,” Lauture said. “They want a better life, they want to make sure that their kids get an education, they want security within their neighborhoods. There is a means here. They come here and they want to work. The first thing they’ll ask you is, can you please help me get my work permit, before they ask you for anything else.”