Ohio’s Springfield has become an area in which two starkly divergent perceptions of America clash. President Donald Trump sees Springfield as embodying what he says is the outcome of unchecked immigration. To Haitian immigrants and their sympathisers, Springfield is about a group of individuals who had to flee from their homes and look for refuge, work and better prospects in America. This contrast has grown increasingly evident amid the Trump administration’s efforts to revoke the temporary immigration status and begin deportations.
With the midterm elections approaching, Springfield is once again drawing national attention, placing immigration policy at the centre of a political contest that extends far beyond this Ohio community.
