Buckeye Reporter

The influx of Haitian illegal immigrants into Clark County, Ohio has sparked controversy and raised concerns among local officials and community leaders. 

Jeannette Chu, Executive Chair of the Republican Party of Clark County, raised eyebrows with a startling statistic regarding the 10.5 million illegal immigrants that have entered the United States over the past few years.  

“We have had so many illegal immigrants enter the country that it totals more than the population of 40 states – 40 U.S. states. Yeah, think about that,” she told the Buckeye Reporter.  

Reflecting on the impact on her community, Chu speculated on the reasons behind Clark County's selection for resettlement.  

“There has to be a reason why they chose Clark County,” she said. “I will say we are a strong Republican community.” 

Chu’s comments come after recent revelations that nearly $300 million from the Department of Health and Human Services was given to a single non-profit for resettlement efforts in Ohio. 

X user "Oilfield Rando" recently commented on the financial aspects of resettlement efforts, drew attention to the National Youth Advocate Project's substantial funding for resettlement efforts in Ohio. 

"The destruction of Springfield, Ohio inspired me to look at which organizations are being paid the most for refugee resettlement in the state. A 501c3 called National Youth Advocate Project has been awarded $292 million by the Dept of Health and Human Services for assistance to unaccompanied illegal alien children in Ohio since 2021. The organization's 2022 IRS form 990 says that the CEO, Marvena Twigg (social worker), earned $1.27 million that year. Wowie,” Oilfield Rando posted.

Chu highlighted the timeline of the resettlement efforts. 

“The issue started taking off early in the Biden presidency, probably somewhere between the first two years of Biden's administration,” Chu said.

Since then, Springfield has become home to an estimated 20,000 Haitian immigrants. 

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue recently voiced concern over the strain immigration places on city resources, citing a surge in population due to job opportunities. 

He emphasized the challenge of maintaining essential services like police and healthcare amid the influx of illegal immigrants. 

Rue criticized national immigration policies that have seen a reported 10.5 million illegal immigrants resettle in the United States.

"The policy is broken, the policy needs fixed, and it's hurting cities like ours," Rue told WSYX-TV.

Chu pointed out efforts to accommodate the new arrivals. 

“I believe they're building housing for these people and putting them up in vacant buildings and hotels that were not being used. They're just doing everything they can to provide housing for them,” she said. 

She expressed concerns about potential repercussions such as electoral impacts, despite state laws requiring identification for driver's licenses. 

"I don't think that they'll be able to have an impact on any of our local elections," Chu said. 

Meanwhile, in other areas of the country the question of extending voting rights to illegal immigrants has been in play. 

New York City was recently rebuffed in its efforts to allow illegal aliens to vote after a law aiming to grant voting rights to 800,000 non-citizens was deemed unconstitutional by a state appeals court. 

The decision upholds a lower court ruling and emphasizes that only citizens are entitled to vote under state law, rejecting arguments that non-citizens should be included in local electoral processes. 

That still hasn’t stopped other politicians from broaching the subject. 

In an op-ed, U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan, representing South Carolina's third district, criticized Democratic Party efforts to extend voting rights to non-citizens. 

“We need to stop pretending like this is okay or normal because it's not. Non-citizen voting is explicitly un-American and disrespectful to those who fought and died for the preservation of our freedoms and democracy,“ Duncan wrote.

Duncan has introduced legislation to combat non-citizen voting since 2018, aiming to protect American democracy from what he perceives as a dangerous erosion of values and integrity.