The Sad Story of Springfield, Oho

Springfield, Ohio used to be considered a quintessential mid-sized city in the American Midwest.

It is located between Dayton and Columbus on I-70.

I have driven through Springfield often in my travels around Ohio.

In 1983 Newsweek magazine featured the city in its 50th anniversary issue entitled "The American Dream".

It was considered the perfect example of the values and opportunity represented by the United States of America.

Source: https://dks.library.kent.edu/?a=d&d=dks19830211-01.2.38&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------

As late as 2004 Springfield, Ohio was named an All-America City by the National Civic League.

It used to be a manufacturing hub that was the home for many auto parts manufacturers.

Springfield was also the city where the American farm machinery industry began.

From the Civil War to the 1950's most of the agricultural machinery in the United States was manufactured in Springfield.

International Harvester was the major employer in Springfield for many years.

IH later moved beyond farming equipment and became a leader in the manufacture of large trucks.

In the mid-1980's International Harvester sold off its agricultural machinery division to Case Corporation and repositioned itself to focus on the commercial vehicle business with a new corporate name--- Navistar.

Navistar still has a large plant is Springfield, Ohio that employs between 1,500-2,000 people. It is no longer the leading employer in the city. The local health care system now is as is the case in many American cities.

Springfield, Ohio is the city in which singer John Legend, comedian Jonathan Winters, current Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, silent screen star Lillian Gish and basketball hall of fame member Wayne Embry were either born and/or raised.

Springfield is also the home of Wittenberg University which has been a respected liberal arts college since 1845.

In the 2020 U.S. census Springfield had a population of 58,000.

It is a far different city today than it was in the past.

In fact, it is becoming unrecognizable as an American city.

In the last five years an estimated 15,000-20,000 Haitian migrants have settled in Springfield, Ohio.

Over 15,000 Haitians move into a city of 58,000 within a few years time?

I was shocked recently when I heard this fact about what has happened to Springfield.

I don't know how any city could absorb the influx of an increase in its population by almost one-third within five years without causing major disruptions to the quality of life of its citizens. 

It is even worse when the influx involves people with no shared language, culture or values.

How is any city supposed to deal with this?

I have previously written in these pages about the enormous sustainability issues associated with uncontrolled immigration.

Sustainability is often cited when considering issues such as the environment or climate change.  

However, there is no larger issue regarding sustainability today than is the case with illegal and uncontrolled immigration.

Adding too many immigrants in a short period of time puts too much strain on our resources. It puts unnecessary strain on everything in our society---our water, our sewer systems, our roads, the electric grid, our infrastructure and our environment. It contributes to congestion and urban sprawl.

Add to this what it does to increase the financial strain on our schools and our health system and cost pressure on rents and housing costs, not to mention our law enforcement and justice system.

Illegal and uncontrolled immigration is the worst thing you could be in favor of if you are concerned about sustainability in our society.

All of this is all too real when you see what is happening in Springfield, Ohio,

Consider the recent comments of Springfield Mayor Rob Rue who has desperately sought help from the federal government to deal with the situation in his city. He and other city leaders recently went to Washington, D.C. to highlight the issues they are dealing with.

“With the current immigration policy, it’s affecting cities like our city,” Rue said. “We’re trying to make sure that we’re doing it right as city leaders and bringing light to this. These populations are taxing our schools, taxing our healthcare system, and we just want to make sure it’s right.”

Rue, city manager Bryan Heck and deputy director of public safety and operations Jason Via all attended the multiple meetings, Rue said.

The Biden administration expanded the number of immigrants eligible for Temporary Protected Status, which Turner previously said opened the door for a large number of immigrants to come to Springfield without assistance or additional resources.

Rue said areas that have felt the most strain include housing, employment, safe transportation and health care. He said one-third of the babies born at Mercy Health — Springfield are Haitian.

Rocking Horse Community Health Center is also seeing a growth in infant visits, jumping from about 300 to 600 newborn appointments from 2022 to 2023, a third of which whose families are non-English speaking, chief medical officer Dr. Carol Barlage said.

Or consider the comments of city manager Bryan Heck.

"It's taxing our infrastructure. It's taxing public safety. It's taxing our schools. It's taxing health care…it's taxing our housing," he said.

Heck explained how the city experienced a housing crisis prior to the surge and said this "made it a hundred times worse."

"It's setting communities like Springfield up to fail. And, we do not have the capacity to sustain it, and, without additional federal assistance or support, communities like Springfield will fail."

The failure of the Biden administration to enforce the immigration laws has caused all of this.

Democrats like to pontificate about sustainability but the biggest sustainability issue the United States faces right now is dealing with the pressure on our infrastructure, electric grid, water and sewer systems, housing, education and health systems, is due to uncontrolled immigration.

There is no better example of where this leads than the sad story of Springfield, Ohio.

It once was a city that epitomized the American Dream.

That dream began to die as the United States manufacturing base was hollowed out over the last 30 years.

Springfield was once an All-America City.

It is well on its way to being a Haitian city in America.

Looking beyond the sustainability issues, the compounding effects of uncontrolled immigration should also not be ignored.

Wittenberg University in Springfield recently announced that they are having significant financial problems.

It may have to cut 60% of its faculty and staff over the next few years.

Source: https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/wittenberg-faculty-alumni-rip-proposal-to-cut-60-of-professors-many-staff/J2HVVKZ5KZFEHO43L4DVJRUQ6Y/

Some of Wittenberg's problems are undoubtedly related to fewer high school students graduating and even fewer deciding to attend college due to high costs. It is a challenge of all colleges today, especially smaller schools.

However, you also have to ask how many students are interested in attending a college in a city that is starting to feel more like Haiti than Ohio?

When you add this additional factor to all the other problems that Wittenberg has you have to wonder how much longer it can survive?

A small college, founded 180 years ago, that survived the Civil War, two world wars and two global pandemics may not be able to survive due to uncontrolled immigration?

Such are the compounding effects of illegal and uncontrolled immigrations.

It is just one of many such effects that most will never be able to connect the dots to.

The open borders policy of Biden/Harris and the Democrats is simply not sustainable.

The compounding effects of this policy will also have adverse effects in a range of areas in this country for years to come.

The sad story of Springfield, Ohio should be a cautionary tale for all.