No, Haitian Immigrants Are Not Eating Pet Cats

Senator Vance is consistent in telling us that this story started with his constituents in Ohio calling his office to bring up this issue. He is a senator from the state of Ohio where this alleged issue is supposedly taking place (notice I am not taking a side about if it is or isn't happening). The only place I have heard about some mentally ill person and their facebook post has been here on SI, so rumors are obviously coming from all kinds of places.

With the above information, we do not know if Senator Vance is lying about what his constituents said, or even if the constituents are lying. In fact, we do not even know if his aid who told him about the calls is lying or if the aid actually told him about the calls. We need to be careful that we not just assume the people we like are telling the truth or that the people we do not like are not telling the truth. We also need to be careful about accusing people of ethical failures simply for saying that something might be true or something might be false.

I have heard very little discussion however about "if" it is happening then "why?" I live in an area where it is very common for people to hunt and eat what they hunt (rural SD). Of course we are required to have a license to hunt, but it is normal and socially acceptable in our area to eat what is killed in hunting. We also have a lot of feral cats and the pheasant hunters want to get rid of those cats because they eat the pheasants. So killing cats is common here as well. (This statement is based on what I have been told. I do not have photo or video evidence of cat killing here in SD). I do not know about the culture of the place where these immigrants came from, and I do not even assume that all areas of Haiti have the same culture, nor am I saying that the Hattians are actually eating cats. I am simply saying that if they view cats like we view pheasants, then it makes sense for them to eat them- especially if they view a cat without its owner as feral and potential game.

My reasoning for thinking that the story might be true isn't because I think any less of the Hattian people, but because I figured if they like cooked cat, then why not eat it. I pointed out the same thing about the geese in an earlier post.

We have an overpopulation of Canadian geese in Ohio. I wouldn't mind if more people killed and ate Canadian geese. Of course, they're protected by an international treaty with Canada. But, if a few went missing from the parks around me, I wouldn't mind.

"My reasoning for thinking that the story might be true isn't because I think any less of the Hattian people, but because I figured if they like cooked cat, then why not eat it. I pointed out the same thing about the geese in an earlier post."

Are you kidding me? Are you really serious here? The story might be true because of some connection to your experience, instead of facts? I mean, maybe this is how MAGA people think, I don't know. It is not true, at this point in time, because the Mayor of the city, the chief of police and the governor of the state says that there is no documented proof of this ever having happened. No police reports, and nothing confirmed. I would assume if anyone knows about crimes happening it would be the police department of the city. The original poster about this on facebook has already gone on public record that what they posted on the private facebook group was just hearsay. We also know that JD Vance publicly stated, that these allegations maybe unfounded and time will tell. What we also know as fact is because of Trump's stupid comments, the entire population is now living in fear with bomb threats to schools filled with little children and death threats.

But I guess we can articulate something being true because of really flawed logic. The idea that Haitians or any immigrant eats dogs, cats and pets is a racist trope. Actually not surprising that Trump promoted it, as it fits into his racist narrative around immigrants in general. In some cities it is vietnamese that eat the local pets, in others it is the mexican immigrants.

This is stupid Trump throwing a racist comment that resonates with his base and fires them up, and now they are trying to defend it. Because, hey why should we ever criticize trump. And now you are defending it because, hey we eat pheasants, why can't a haitian eat a cat.

It is not racist to think that some people eat dogs or cats. Years ago we had an Asian missionary come through and the head gasket went out on his car. He could not afford to hire a shop to repair it, so he and I did the work together in my shop. As we were working, my brother's little dog was running around. He asked if I liked hot dogs. I said they were okay. The missionary then grinned and smirked and pointed to the dog and asked if I liked hot dog. I said I had never eaten dog. He then went on to tell me how good it was. He also told me that if I ever came to his homeland that he would make me a duck egg that had already started to incubate since that was a very fine delicacy there. As we worked, we talked about the different foods we ate and the different perspectives we each had about what would taste good. There was nothing racist about it.

It is a form of dehumanization and xenophobia. It tries to dehumanize an individual group based on their race (i.e. Haitians), in order to make them appear as a threat to the standing population. It deploys falseshoods and racial stereotyping to deploy that fear. Trump on a national stage made a stereotype that these Hatian immigrants are stealing Springfields pets and eating them, and as a result you need to vote for Trump because he will go in and deport the legal immigrant population. He played into the fears of his base using xenophobia and racist view.

You took his statement and you did exactly what most of the base does. "Well we hunt pheasants and eat them", I guess it is foreseeable that these people who look different from us and act different from us could conceivably eat dogs (because hey I have heard other people talk about eating dogs), so yeah, it might be true. We need to get rid of these people who are legally here, because they are a threat to us and we need to segregate that deportation based on their looks and the way they act. It is not based on whether they actually did it or not, but just a stereotype and connecting the dots though disjointed logic. Trump doesn't care whether they are here legally or not, they look and act different from the other residents of Springfield. So he is slowly shifting his base from illegal immigrants to now fear race.

Wow. It's amazing that if someone says we should actually wait for the facts to come out and maybe express just a bit of skepticism with respect to the media's own "fact-checkers", this is evidence of racial bigotry, consequentialist ethics, and blind loyalty to President Trump.

I have never heard Trump say he wants to deport legal immigrants, only those here illegally.

Wow. It's amazing that if someone says we should actually wait for the facts to come out and maybe express just a bit of skepticism with respect to the media's own "fact-checkers", this is evidence of racial bigotry, consequentialist ethics, and blind loyalty to President Trump.

This was about the easiest situation to fact-check quickly. You start with both Springfield's city officials (city manager and police). They debunked it. You follow up with the person(s) who started the rumor in the first place and we find out that it was hearsay from Erika Lee and Kimberly Newton rather than any first-hand evidence. You follow up on the videos and pics that went viral on twitter/X attempting to prove that Haitian Immigrants were killing pets and wild geese and realize that these pics were from other cities all of them non-immigrants, and completely different circumstances. But they were shared as fact about Haitian Immigrants by Turning Point's Charlie Kirk, Twitter/X's Elon Musk, and Alex Jones leading to Trump making it a focal point of the debate and he and Vance doubling down on it. Trump and Vance know that Immigration fear will rally the conservative base and voters and they are willing to lie about it (for what they perceive as the greater good) just like Harris and Waltz know that fear of ending abortion rights will rally their progressive base and voters and are willing to lie about it with Project 2025 (for what they perceive is the greater good).

My consequentialist ethics comment was directed towards Trump/Vance and the GOP as well as progressive Democrats on the other side of the political aisle. My point is that we ought to call it out because we conservative Christians put value on truth-telling. I pushed back on your skepticism because The Dispatch Fact-Checkers did their due diligence in this situation. A story that was based on hearsay rather than evidence (even if it turned out to be true) should never have been reported. Its bad ethics and yellow journalism.

I have purposely avoided attributing racism to the actions of Trump, Vance, MAGA supporters who spread the false rumors, Twitter/X social media celebrities, or even SI followers who assumed Trump/Vance were telling the truth. The term "Racism" has no meaning anymore. It is a loaded word that today's culture believes is the unpardonable sin because it has been misused, misappropriated, and misunderstood and I am tired of trying to explain it to people what I mean without being misinterpreted myself. I do use the word, "racialize" however. I think most of us can agree that the conservative politicians, social media, and celebrities racialized the immigrant crisis in Springfield, which blew up in their face because it revealed that truth-telling wasn't their priority.

So explaining and defending why someone from another country might eat something different than what you would eat makes that person a racist and a blind Trump loyalist? I am really confused. I think I might have to watch the new Matt Walsh movie after this. After seeing some of the comments on his movie "Am I a Racist," I wondered if maybe he was selectively editing or exaggerating to make a point. After this thread, I am not so sure.

AndyE,

Trump said that he would deport the Hatian immigrants that are in Springfield Ohio as part of the largest mass deportation in history. The Haitian immigrants in Springfield are legal immigrants with legal documentation that came in through a legal port of entry under a program established by Congress in the 90's (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-says-attacks-haitian-immigrants-…)

JD Miller,

Not concerned with someone saying that someone from a different country eats different food. Concerned with the statement made, "'because I figured if they like cooked cat', it might be true what Trump said". First, the Hatian diet does not consists of eating cooked cats. It is xenophobic and a racist statement, because you are taking a stereotype (Hatian's eat cooked cats) - a false stereotype, and you are applying it to the immigrants of Springfield because of their race or culture, not whether anyone in particular ate cats. It is no different than saying, "school shooters are predominately white, my neighborhood is predominately white, my neighborhood must have school shooters". I didn't say you were racist, I said the statement was racist.

When you take a statement and you apply it to a whole group of people based on their racial or ethnic makeup, not based on whether the statement is true or not. It is the very definition of a racist statement, Racism = "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized."

Trump spread the false statement (determined to be categorically false), to spread prejudice and antagonism (subsequently upheld by the bomb threats, and to support the key point that we need to deport these people), by applying to a community based on their membership in the racial/ethnic group (all hatians in Springfield).

I wasn't defending Trump. I was defending pvawter. I actually think Trump should have kept his mouth shut about it during the debate. There are much bigger issues with illegal immigration than what people are eating and I still say "let them eat the geese!"

Let us consider what we do and don't know. The Erika Lee and Kimberly Newton incident with Facebook was quite recent.

We know that an Ohio senator has claimed to have gotten calls from constituents about the issue.

We know that the city manager of Springfield, OH claimed that there had been no reports of the Hattians eating pets if we are to believe the debate moderator.

Thus, we have a sitting senator saying he has gotten reports and a city manager saying he has not. If that is all we had, then it would still be unreasonable to suggest that one is credible and the other is not, because it is possible that those making the reports contacted the one and not the other.

There is a problem, however. On March 12th, 2024, there was a city council meeting where a person addressed the council with a concern about pets. It is somewhat unclear however if it is talking about them being eaten or something else terrible. That does not mean it happened. It just means that the concern was publicly brought before the city, yet news reports and the references to the city manager suggest otherwise. Further the meeting is recorded and one of the council members- who was quite skeptical about if the incents had been taking place- admitted that he had heard from others about the same concerns.

This does not prove one way or the other if the events happened. In fact, the city council member who lives there was skeptical about it. What it does prove is that the truth about what was being talked about in Springfield has not been forthcoming and is further evidence of why people tend to be skeptical of the reports. Being skeptical is not bad. I agree with the city council member for being skeptical and I also understand why Pvawter has been skeptical about the media reports.

I do think that Trump was too quick to jump to conclusions about his certainty that pets were being eaten. I also think that many others were also too quick to jump to conclusions about the certainty that they were not. There is simply a lot we do not know. Besides that, I am not even bothered by people eating pets as long as they do not steal someone else's pet. I say that as someone who has eaten pet chickens and pet pigs. So, was I being racist in assuming that some of those people might be a lot like me?

JD Miller,

Not sure why you keep trying to find some inkling of truth to what Trump said. You ignore the evidence as it sits today and what President Trump had at the time of his comments:

• Erika Lee confirmed it was hearsay
• Kimberly Newton confirmed it was hearsay
• Bryan Heck, city manager of Springfield, issued a statement that no credible evidence or specific claims have been found or filed with the city
• Springfield police issued a statement that no reports have been filed about hatians eating pets.
• Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio says that there is no credibility found and that reports so far have been untrue
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources that have investigated a number of claims in March and August found no evidence that any pets were taken or eaten
• JD Vance (your sitting Ohio Senator), even cast doubt on some of the claims stating that they may be unfounded
• Every news station in this country is scouring around to find evidence for this and no one has found any evidence.

What we do have is some hearsay or accusations that have been thrown around by 2-3 people. Why do you say that people should still be skeptical? Even if you found someone who ate a pet, all you found is someone who ate a pet. Has nothing to do with 20,000 Hatian immigrants in Springfield Ohio. 8 clear sources listed above who have a vested interest to uncover the truth or are in a position to authoritatively speak on the truth. The other side, is 1 vague statement from an individual without data that something was taking place, and JD Vance with some people calling him claiming that someone did it. Neither producing any evidence or in an authoritative spot to identify that something took place.

Do you really take this stance in other areas of your life? If some fringe person can comment on hearsay, than you say there is doubt and we just can't be sure. If that is the case, then do you believe the crash in Roswell could have been alien in origin? Because Jesse Marcel in 1978 claimed that the weather balloon was a cover story and that it was exterterrestial in origin. Or how about the earth is flat? There are some people who state the earth is flat. Or that 9/11 was carried out by the deep state, or that Sandy Hook was a hoax.

I haven't done a bunch of in-depth research, but from what I can tell the Biden administration recently extended the protected status for unauthorized immigrants from Haiti living in the United States until Feb 2026. Evidently, they have a designation, unilaterally extended by the Biden administration, that protects against deportation but does not make them permanent legal immigrants. It sounds like they did not enter the country legally, but that the US has allowed it and given them special protections and those protections were extended. I'm guessing what Trump is saying is that those protections should not be extended and should not be used to continually allow new Haitians to enter illegally but in a protected status, and that if he were president, he would undo all that.

So, I don't think it is as simple as Trump wants to deport legal immigrants. There is more to it than that and it involves controversial immigration policy that Trump sees as having run amok.

For my part, I don't know enough about the Haitian situation to say anything one way or another, but I am in favor of a tightened border policy and believe it is completely out of control under Biden/Harris.

It's a big deal that Trump spreading a sensational story that has been thoroughly repudiated by many qualified sources. But to me, the much bigger deal is what he is intending to do with the story. Even if it turned out to be true, that doesn't mean what Trump is doing is ok. He is using the story to stoke hatred and spread xenophobia. This is antithetical to the Bible, and Christians should be distancing themselves from this, not supporting Trump. I can't believe this even needs to be said.

On illegal immigration, Trump is such a hypocrite that I'm not super interested in hearing from him about it. There was a very good bipartisan immigration bill that Trump killed earlier this year because it would have benefited Biden rather than him. He can't have it both ways. If illegal immigration is what he claims it to be, then he should have put his weight behind the bill, not against it.