Residents in the town of Logansport, Indiana, say that an influx of migrants from Haiti and other countries into their little town is overwhelming services, a trend of small towns and cities across the U.S. being overwhelmed.
“It’s just overrun. We don’t have space for everybody, so the housing has been taken over and our schools have been taken over; pretty much the whole town has been taken over,” resident Candice Espinoza told “America’s Newsroom.”
Logansport’s mayor estimates the population has grown by 20%-30% since 2021, most of that being Haitians moving in. More than 3,000 Haitians have arrived.
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Meanwhile, in numbers first reported by the New York Post, the number of Haitian students in the schools has gone from 14 to 207.
The school district has pushed back on claims that it is affecting the students.
“We have a total of 207 Haitian students within our student population, which makes up about 5% of our student population,” the school district superintendent said in a statement. “I have not had any complaints of student needs not being met due to services to our English learners population. We are a comprehensive school corporation. English learner students who need extra support are given those supports through specific programs that we offer.”
Espinoza disagreed with the statement and said she believes parents have been complaining.
“I have a child that I help take care of that she’s dyslexic, and she does not get the help she needs. She needs a little extra hands-on, and she needs help to learn to read, and they don’t help her. They are holding her back because they’re trying to specialize with these kids that need more English, and they don’t know English, so it’s harder,” she said.
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Others have pointed to other effects of Haitian migration, with one mother telling the Post her daughter was accosted by Haitian migrants as she walked to a nearby coffee shop. Multiple residents also told Fox News the new arrivals make them feel uncomfortable and unsafe, with one woman saying some of the male Haitian migrants in town would “stop in front of our porch and just stop and stare. They don’t say a word. They just stare. It’s unnerving.”
The Health Department has seen an uptick in cases of diseases like tuberculosis and HIV.
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“We’re all for compassion,” one resident told Fox. “But you can’t do that at the expense of everyone else either. You got to have compassion for those who are here.”
The city’s mayor is now trying to get the state and federal governments to step up and help his town pay for the increase in city services.
“How do you think us as leaders in this small community feel knowing that not once were we alerted this was going to happen?” Mayor Chris Martin told Fox.
The situation in Logansport echoes those in other U.S. towns like Springfield, Ohio, Charleroi, Pa., and Lockland, Ohio, that have faced challenges with an influx of migrants, whether in the U.S. legally or illegally.
Meanwhile, cities like New York City and Chicago have been overwhelmed by the numbers they have see. Immigration is now a top issue ahead of the 2024 election, with multiple polls showing former President Trump with an advantage over Vice President Harris on the issue.
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