But Springfield’s fortunes seem to be on the rise. New houses are being built all over the city. Businesses open and downtown Springfield becomes more vibrant after dark.
Jones credits some of the revitalization to Haitians and other immigrants.
“I’m seeing jobs that don’t exist now,” he said. “I feel good because I see things happening again in my community.”
Boom, bust and boom again
Springfield has been making headlines of late for strange reasons, but in many ways the city is representative of broader national trends. It’s a once-prosperous place that’s still standing up, a phenomenon that has been felt throughout the Midwest since the 1980s.
This renewed prosperity and resulting population growth means strain on local infrastructure, health care and schools.
Between 12,000 and 15,000 Haitians fleeing political turmoil and violence in their home country have landed in Springfield over the past five years, coming to the United States under federal law. humanitarian program for migrants, according to the city. Others are in the US on tourist visas and green cards.
“Many of them were professionals, doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers,” said Sophia Pierrelus, an immigration advocate who left Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, nearly two decades ago. “Culture shock is happening to both Americans and Haitians.”
Jim Denis moved to Springfield five years ago after hearing about the low cost of living from his brother, who had already moved to the city from Haiti. Denis and his family secured tourist visas through his father, who works at the US Embassy in Haiti.
Denise, who currently holds a green card that allows her to live and work permanently in the United States, owns three homes in Springfield, including two that she rents out for supplemental income. He also has two jobs, working as an electronics technician and running a photography studio in Springfield. His wife is in nursing school.
“I came here and worked hard for what I had,” he said. “I live below my means and invest. But people think that Haitians are not smart enough to do what I do.”
When he arrived in Springfield, he said, it was a “dead town” of abandoned buildings and vacant lots. As more immigrants began to move in, he saw an opportunity for Springfield to become a place where he and his young family could rebuild their lives.
Until a few weeks ago, Denis and his wife spent their free time cycling around town or taking their young children to the park. Now his wife is afraid to leave their home and begs him to move out.
There are those in the community who hope that people like Denis will move.
Bill Monaghan, a Springfield resident who helps run the Facebook page Stop the Flow to Springfield, Ohio, said Haitian immigration is “disastrous for the working class and the working poor.”
Rents have risen as some landlords see an opportunity to pay per person rather than per house, a claim supported by several immigration advocates and local tenants.
Waits at the local health clinic and motor transport department have also increased and waiting times for emergency services are longer, he said.
“It’s a lot of people at once,” he told NBC News. “People are losing their homes to migrants. The roads are becoming dangerous.”
Local officials admit the sudden arrival of so many immigrants has hit local services hard as the city struggles to keep up with rising demand for health care and housing.