Trump says his mass deportation will begin in Ohio town where he falsely claimed Haitians were eating pets

Donald Trump said he would conduct the “largest deportation in the history” of the United States and begin by removing immigrants and migrants in Springfield, Ohio – the same town in which he falsely claimed Haitian immigrants were eating pets.

On Friday, the former president repeated his anti-immigration policies and amplified familiar unsubstantiated claims of “migrant crime” during a press conference at his golf course in Racho Palos Verdes, California.

“We’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country and we’re going to start with Springfield,” Trump said.

The former president has garnered international attention for falsely accusing the Haitian immigrant community in Springfield of abducting and “eating” people’s cats and dogs – a conspiracy theory that originated online but was quickly debunked by local and state officials.

Despite officials shutting down the accusations, the former president still insisted he would “deport” people living in Springfield – specifically Venezuelan migrants who he claimed were “emptied” from jails.

“We will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio. Large deportations. We’re going to get these people back we’re bringing them back to Venezuela,” Trump said.

“They emptied their jails in Venezuela, emptied their criminals, emptied their nests. They call them nests of bad people. They’re all now in the United States and they’re taking over cities. It’s like an invasion from within,” he added.

Springfield has seen a large influx of immigrants from Haiti, not Venezuela. It is unclear why the former president mentioned Venezuelans.

Additionally, the Haitian immigrants living in Springfield are under Temporary Protected Status, according to the city’s website. This means Haitian nationals can lawfully live in the U.S. without fear of deportation because the government has determined it is unsafe for them to return to Haiti.

TPS does not give people a permanent resident status or any other immigration status.

Much of Trump’s campaign message is about fear-mongering mass immigration and promising to conduct sweeping deportations.

Trump has often exaggerated the number of migrants crossing the border and the instances of violent crime conducted by migrants. He has used single instances of crimes committed by migrants as examples of mass “migrant crime”.

Most recently, an Ohio father, whose son was killed in a car crash involving a Haitian immigrant, asked the former president and his running mate JD Vance to stop using his son’s death to espouse anti-immigration views.

On Friday, a reporter questioned the former president about his use of the unsubstantiated Haitians eating pets claim and raised concerns that the claim led to real bomb threats in Springfield.

Trump interrupted the reporter, saying“No. No. No. The real threat is what’s happening at the border.”