Vance take local economy

If JD Vance gave the single slightest shit about the economic well-being of people in struggling communities in Ohio, he would feel bad right now:

The aroma of Haitian feast — pork griot, djon djon rice, fried plantains — drifted through the break room of a metal shop in Springfield, Ohio.

It was Wilford Rinvil’s goodbye gift to his co-workers.

For four years, Mr. Rinvil, a Haitian immigrant, had pressed steel into car parts at McGregor Metal. While the work was grueling, it offered a stable income, health insurance, a 401(k). And Mr. Rinvil, who turns 46 this week, thrived there, relieved to be away from his home country, which had descended into lawlessness and gang violence.

“He would do anything in the world for you,” said Lance Beale, the production supervisor.

But Mr. Rinvil’s sense of security began to unravel after President Trump took office and moved to dismantle protections for Haitian immigrants.

He expected the administration to revoke his work permit. And with deportation a real possibility, Mr. Rinvil packed up his hard-won life and moved this month to Canada.

“You leave your home to survive, you do everything right,” he said in an interview four days before his departure. But “they don’t like you, they don’t want you.”

Mr. Rinvil was among more than 10,000 Haitians who in recent years settled in this working-class city of 60,000. They were welcomed by a Republican governor and business leaders who needed workers to power companies that had been enticed to invest millions here. Over the last four years, Springfield had rebounded, thanks in large part to the arrival of Haitian immigrants.

The newcomers staffed auto plants, packed ready-to-eat salads at Dole and sorted packages at Amazon. They filled church pews, enrolled their children in schools and began to buy homes.

But as the political winds shifted, so did their prospects — and, perhaps, Springfield’s as well.

The city became a flashpoint in the national immigration debate last year, when Mr. Trump, from the debate stage, amplified a baseless claim by his running mate, JD Vance, that Haitians there were stealing and eating pets.

The accusation inflamed growing tensions over rising rents and schools’ supporting students learning English. At City Commission meetings, some residents used racist language to describe the newcomers, accusing them of ruining the city and draining resources.

[…]

Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, offered his own sobering assessment last month.

“The one word I would use to describe Springfield today is stable,” he said, after meeting representatives from local businesses, medical centers and religious organizations.

But “suddenly losing a large number” of workers, he noted, would have a “significant impact” on Springfield and the region, as businesses struggle to keep operating. And immigrant families who were once self-sufficient would require support.

His conclusion was blunt: “It’s not going to be good.”

When you get 48 weeks of vacation a year from your job of sending race-baiting tweets and occasionally showing up to the Senate to the healthcare away from millions of people you don’t need to care about whether Rust Belt communities live or die.