The city has been in the national spotlight since a claim went viral that Haitian immigrants — of whom 12,000 to 15,000 live in the Springfield area — were eating people’s pets. Law enforcement and city officials have said there is zero evidence to back these claims.

Since last week, schools, hospitals, government offices and businesses have faced bomb threats. Threats to schools led to Gov. Mike DeWine directing the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s field force to sweep all 17 Springfield City Schools buildings each morning before classes and to stay around during the school day through dismissal.

Community members told the News-Sun before the event that they wanted to focus on “the real issues” facing the city related to the immigrant population.

Velta Kalnins, a Latvian immigrant who said she came to the U.S. legally, said she has lived in Springfield for 20 years and is “disturbed” by the changes in Springfield in recent years. She said that if the city needed workers, they should have recruited “legal people first.”

According to immigration experts, the vast majority of Haitian immigrants in Springfield are in the country through Temporary Protected Status, meaning they can legally stay in the country for a set period of time. This does not provide a path to citizenship but those on TPS can pursue citizenship or other means of staying.

Kalnins said there is more work to be done to figure out why and how so many Haitian immigrants came to Springfield. She said the U.S. has lost its ways, and emphasized she came from the former Soviet Union.

Arvind Kumar, a Fijian immigrant who has lived in Springfield for 25 years, said he is concerned about frequent car crashes, and that immigrants should learn English and be given driving classes before allowed on the road. He came to “see what Vivek has to say” with his neighbor, who declined to be interviewed.

Jack and Pam Oliver, Springfield residents of 25 years, concurred about driving safety and said that they have heard about some assaults perpetrated by Haitian immigrants. They said they are concerned about low vaccination rates and the burden to the health care system.

Clark County Commissioner Melanie Flax Wilt told the News-Sun earlier Thursday that of a jail population of 199 people, two were Haitian immigrants as of last week.

Ramaswamy said the event had around 2,000 registrations, but only room for a little more than 300 people.

Dozens of attendees sported American flags on their clothing, with many wearing caps supporting former President Donald Trump’s campaign for president.

Ramaswamy responded to questions and comments from the audience, though he noted that because he is not in office, his power is philanthropic. He said that he attempted to donate $100,000 to a nonprofit in Springfield but they turned him down, which he believed to be due to his political beliefs. He did not specify which nonprofit, and said he would be willing to give that check to another organization.

The businessman said the forum was a place for people to be heard with the only rules being respect and honesty.

At one point, a man, who spoke about how the faith community has provided financial support through CarePortal to help areas that have been struggling, was met with interruptions by a woman who said a lot of churches and “cults” have contributed to bringing Haitian immigrants to Springfield.

“I want to say to the Haitian community that I’m not mad at the community,” said the woman, who did not identify herself.

Diana Daniels, a county resident who has been vocal at city commission meetings, told the audience that the town hall was necessary because city government failed to listen to its citizens.

“We have been pleading our case for well over a year,” said Daniels, who said city commissioners have dismissed people with concerns and called them racist.

The temperature at city commission meetings has been high for some time and recently, the NAACP of Springfield started a forum to address concerns and temper racism against Haitian immigrants and Black Springfield residents. There have been two forums thus far.

Ohio state Rep. Phil Plummer, R-Butler Twp. in Montgomery County, spoke at the town hall and said the story is not about cats, dogs or ducks, but is what the Haitian immigrant community “is costing you guys.” He said he sees the issue “migrating” to the Dayton area.

One city resident asked why city commissioners were not present at the meeting, and another responded Commissioner Tracey Tackett was not allowed in. Ramaswamy said that many people were not allowed in due to capacity, and that he should have anticipated a larger turnout. He also said that he invited commissioners but that a nationwide “culture of fear” may have contributed to their absence.

Another resident, who said he was a veteran, said the city was suffering from the drug epidemic and a homelessness crisis before the arrival of Haitian immigrants, but with thousands here now, areas that were burdened before are now “critically overwhelmed.” He told Ramaswamy that although he is a Trump supporter, he is concerned about how Trump could deport the Haitian immigrants en masse because they are in the country legally.

Ramaswamy focused on nationwide immigration in his answer, saying that mass deportations can be achieved by first addressing anyone who is detained, then to stop allowing people to enter.

“Consent should only be granted to migrants who benefit the United States of America; those who come without consent should be removed,” Ramaswamy told the crowd.

Another community member, who said he is half Black and half Arab, said he has experienced racism in the last week and that “the hateful language in this community needs to stop.” He said he was called a slur and friends have been told to “get out of here.”

Ramaswamy responded that he believes racism didn’t become a prominent issue in the country until the last nine to 12 months, something in Springfield he blamed on the large increase the population has seen in recent years.

“If you take 20,000 people who are unprepared to integrate into a community, dump them into a city of 50,000, you’re going to get a reactionary response,” Ramaswamy said. “Then you demonize the people who have the reactionary response … They’re going to have ill will, in this case towards the Haitian community.”