Editorial: On 'eating the cats' and immigration limits

“They’re eating the cats” may be the perfect encapsulation of Donald Trump’s brilliance and flaws.

The former president uttered that line during Tuesday’s presidential debate. He was referring to claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people’s pets. He also said, “They’re eating the dogs.”

Similar claims had gone viral before the debate, although they involved cats and geese, not dogs. His supporters had created a swarm of images showing Trump defending cats and geese.

Here’s the context for what’s happening. In 2020, the Census Bureau said Springfield had a bit under 59,000 residents. Somewhere between 15,000 to 20,000 Haitian migrants have moved to the town in the past few years.

The Biden-Harris administration has taken steps to protect these migrants. The Homeland Security Department recently granted Temporary Protected Status to around 500,000 Haitians.

Before this town burst onto the national scene, local residents were raising concerns. They’re worried about increases in crime and car accidents. In August 2023, a Haitian migrant drove a van into a school bus. Tragically, one boy died, and more than 20 students were injured. The driver didn’t have a valid driver’s license.

The city didn’t have the infrastructure to have its population artificially explode by 25% to 33%. Residents face higher rents. The migrants have overwhelmed the local medical and education systems.

“The community health clinic saw a 13-fold increase in Haitian patients between 2021 and 2023, from 115 to 1,500, overwhelming its staff and budget,” The New York Times reported recently.

Longtime residents have pleaded with their city officials to help.

“It is so unsafe,” a woman identified as Noel told the city commission at one meeting. “I have men that cannot speak English in my front yard screaming at me, throwing mattresses in my front yard, throwing trash in my front yard.”

She continued, “I weigh 95 pounds. I couldn’t defend myself if I had to.” She said her husband told her it was time to move out of their home of 45 years.

The left is focused on Trump’s specific claim. As moderator/part-time debater David Muir said during the debate, “ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

Leave aside the folly of the press unquestioningly accepting the word of a government official. There have been some secondhand and unsubstantiated reports of migrants eating cats. It’s hard to even find rumors about abducted dogs. There’s better evidence, including a 911 call, of Haitian migrants taking geese from a local park.

Getting the facts right or at least using appropriate caveats matters. Trump shouldn’t play fast and loose with the details.

But here’s what the left misses. Unchecked immigration in Springfield has substantially lowered the quality of life for the Americans living there. And the left didn’t care until it became a Trump cat meme.

Trump cares though, and he wants to fix it. In his first term, he successfully reduced illegal immigration to a manageable level. The Biden-Harris administration reversed Trump’s policies, and illegal immigration exploded. Caring for those illegal aliens has burdened even large liberal cities.

Most Americans support some level of legal immigration. But most Americans also understand that assimilation needs to occur as well. That won’t happen smoothly when the number of newcomers in one place is too large.

Just remember the reaction when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent around 50 illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, a place beloved by many rich Democrats. Massachusetts called in the National Guard to get them off the island. Most of the newcomers were gone within days.

Yet, a small town in Ohio is supposed to handle upwards of 20,000 migrants without raising a peep.

That — not the validity of cat-eating claims — is what many voters are upset about and why they support Trump.