Trump's Haitian immigrant comments create a storm in Florida

LOS ANGELES — When a group of 50 Democrats of Caribbean descent gathered to watch the presidential debate in a South Florida suburb this week, the room filled with stunned laughs as former President Trump repeated a baseless rumor that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were stealing dogs and cats so they could eat them.

"How can this person be a candidate to be president?" asked Guithele Ruiz-Nicolas, past president of Haitian American Democratic Club of Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale.

The laughs quickly turned to anger, said Ruiz-Nicolas, who came to the United States with her parents as a child in the 1960s, and has seen new and shocking levels of bigotry directed at her people, who she said were long welcomed with open arms.

"Our best revenge is to go out and get the votes out," said Ruiz-Nicolas, adding that Trump's comments have fueled new efforts to achieve that goal.

Florida is a longshot for Democrats. Trump won the state twice, including a 3-percentage-point victory in 2020. And the state has turned more Republican since then with the landslide reelection of Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022.

But it was considered a battleground before that. And recent polls showing Trump with margins of between 2 and 6 percentage points over Vice President Kamala Harris. That and an abortion rights ballot initiative that could turn out liberal voters have given Democrats glimmers of hope that they can at least be competitive and perhaps swing some down ballot races.

The state's Haitian American population, estimated at about 500,000, is the nation's largest and votes predominantly Democratic.

Haitian immigrants concentrated in South Florida, who came fleeing economic and political instability, have risen to fill numerous seats in city and county commissions, the state legislature and Congress. Haitian doctors and nurses fill hospitals in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding suburbs. Many newer immigrants take back-breaking jobs that native-born Floridians turn down.

"Let's be clear: Haitians and other immigrants come to this country committed to education, hard work and building a better life, not just for themselves but for all of us," said Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Haitian American Democrat from South Florida, in a statement. "They contribute to our economy, enrich our culture, and strengthen our communities. Trump's comments are a distraction from the real issues we face, and we won't be fooled."

Estimates of Haitian American voters range from 100,000 to 300,000, but Fernand Amandi, a Democratic pollster based in Miami, said they probably account for less than 1% of the voting population. Many were already motivated to elect Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican immigrant who has led the Biden administration's foreign policy in the Caribbean.

"In Florida, we've seen the state and the presidency decided by 537 votes so any group can potentially sway an election or the presidency for that matter," said Amandi, referring to the margin of victory in the contested 2000 election that came down to the Sunshine State. "I just don't think it's in the cards in 2024."

Amandi said it's "plausible, probably not probable" that Florida would turn blue in the case of a landslide victory for Harris at the national level.

Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that "the media is trying to distract the American people from the very real problems plaguing the residents of Springfield, Oh," blaming the "sudden influx of migrants" for spiking rents, stressed schools and public safety incidents.

Trump's 2020 victory in Florida came after he called Haiti a "shithole country."

That comment stung, too.

"We see this movie play all over again, every time there's a tragedy of immigrants being forced to flee their countries," said Gepsie Morisset-Metellus, co-founder and executive director of the Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center, a neighborhood resource center in North Miami.

Morisset-Metellus said she is especially concerned for Haitian residents of Springfield, Ohio, who are being threatened and intimidated by racists, according to published reports that have spread through the Haitian diaspora. Most of them are in the country legally and came to the area because there were jobs and a growing support network of fellow immigrants.

Morisset-Metellus said community members are outraged and contemplating what actions to take. But she is sure about one of them.

"People have always cared about these elections and the Haitian American community its a highly engaged voter population and people don't miss elections," she said. "They care."