Springfield, which is facing a temporary influx of Haitian migrants, will receive law enforcement resources and healthcare funding worth millions of dollars from the governor of Ohio.

The Governor of Ohio is sending law enforcement resources and millions in healthcare funds to Springfield, which has been thrust into the spotlight by a temporary Haitian migration surge.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, the Republican Ohio Governor, said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protection Status program which has brought 15,000 Haitians to the city with a population of 59,000 since 2020. However, he said the federal government needs to do more for the impacted communities.

The news conference took place just hours before the debate between former Republican President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamalah Harris, in which the immigration policy divide was certain to be an issue.

On Monday, Republican Ohio attorney general Dave Yost called attention to the crisis by directing his office to investigate legal avenues – including filing a suit – to stop the federal governments from sending “an endless number of migrants” to Ohio communities.

In recent years, thousands of Haitian temporary migrants have arrived in the city as the violence in their homeland has increased.

DeWine explained that Ohio had already provided more resources to Springfield for education and training of drivers, for paying for additional vaccines and health screens in schools, as well as to improve translation services. DeWine is taking further action.

He said that additional influxes of people are happening in Findlay, Ohio, and Lima. It affects moms who are forced to wait in waiting rooms for hours with sick children, drivers on the roads, and students who must attend school in crowded classrooms.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is dispatched on Wednesday to assist local law enforcement in addressing traffic problems that have arisen due to the increase of Haitians who are unfamiliar with U.S. driving laws. DeWine also said that he will be allocating $2.5 million in two years for the provision of primary healthcare by county health departments and private institutions.

DeWine’s family runs a charity in Haiti to honor their late daughter Becky who was killed in a car crash. He said that the Haitians who moved to Ohio were hardworking people who loved their families, and they wanted to leave the violence of their homeland for better jobs in Ohio.