STEVE CORTES: Springfield, Ohio, Small Town America And Kamala’s Open Border

New polling shows that former President Donald Trump continues to hold a giant lead over Vice President Kamala Harris on border and immigration issues.

In the swing state of North Carolina, an American Greatness poll that was taken after the ABC News presidential debate shows Trump with an overall +3% lead among likely voters, and an impressive +10% lead among independents. Regarding which candidate citizens “trust more to secure the border,” likely voters prefer Trump over Harris by a +22% margin, 57-35%.

That lead could extend even further if more Americans learn about the migrant influx predicament faced by many small- and medium-sized towns across America. These towns, many of them in battleground states, grapple to deal with the intense harms inflicted by the open borders policies of the Biden-Harris administration.

Most of these towns — like Springfield, Ohio — are working-class communities without the clout to raise national alarm about this sudden and chaotic influx of foreigners, most of whom are incapable of quick assimilation, and some of whom are clearly dangerous.

For a contrast, recall the mass national hysteria when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shipped just a few dozen illegal aliens to swanky Martha’s Vineyard, a super upscale island off of Massachusetts that happens to be a place of residence for former President Barack Obama. Those migrants were airlifted out by the military to the Massachusetts mainland.

In an almost unbelievable “not in my backyard” show of political force, the mavens of the Vineyard took care of their migrant problem, stat.

But no such luck for places like Springfield, a town of only 60,000 U.S. citizens, that has been subjected to an invasion of 20,000 Haitian migrants. Unlike Martha’s Vineyard, the locals of Springfield are forced to deal with a massive influx of new arrivals that largely do not speak English, tax stretched local resources, crowd public schools, and cause mayhem on the streets of a middle American community.

According to New York Post reporting, “residents say the biggest problem by far is that wild-driving Haitian migrants — unfamiliar with U.S. road laws — are turning the streets into combat zones.” One such reckless driver from Haiti killed a 71-year-old American grandmother, Kathy Heaton, who was collecting her trash cans near the street, and the driver was charged with no crime.

I heard similar stories when I visited Whitewater, Wisconsin, last week. That small town of 15,000 in southern Wisconsin has been inundated with over 1,000 migrants since Harris took office as vice president. As I will show in my forthcoming documentary on the travails of Whitewater, residents complain that the migrants drive wildly, and often unlicensed and uninsured, causing serious accidents. That local sentiment is backed by police statistics, as well.

In addition to the street dangers, the influx of foreigners has put a huge strain on local schools, where 20% of the students are now non-English speakers. In addition, the costs related to the migrants swung the small town into a serious budget deficit.

Not far from Whitewater, in normally placid small Wisconsin towns, violent sex crimes have been charged against migrants. This May, in Fond du Lac, Wisc., a 12-year-old girl was tied up, blindfolded and sexually assaulted by a Nicaraguan man who crossed Harris’ open border in 2021. Just days ago in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, a Venezuelan migrant man was arrested and charged with sexual violence against a woman and a child. According to local police chief, Kyle Teynor, “the police had reason to believe that he was connected with a transnational criminal organization.”

So, even if stories about migrants abusing pets do not represent a widespread risk, the known damage caused by this mass settlement of unvetted, expensive migrants should offend every American citizen.

Trump would end this open-borders madness.

Steve Cortes is former senior advisor to President Trump, former commentator for Fox News and CNN, and president of the League of American Workers, a populist right pro-laborer advocacy group.  

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screen Capture/CSPAN)

All content created by the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.