Long Island Haitian community fears for their safety after Trump's false commentary

LONG ISLAND - A Haitian community on Long Island says they fear for their safety after former President Trump made false comments during the debate.

At Tuesday's presidential debate, former President Donald Trump spotlighted a false online tempest around the Haitian immigrant community of Springfield, Ohio. He repeated the groundless claim previously spread by his running mate, JD Vance, that the immigrants were stealing dogs and cats, the precious pets belonging to their American neighbors, and eating them. The furor got enough attention that officials had to step in to refute it, saying there was no credible evidence of any such thing.

"We must stop the hate, stop the lies against one of the most hard-working immigrant groups we have here in America," Legislator Carrié Solages said.

Trump's running mate JD Vance has repeatedly doubled down on the debunked claim on social media. 

"Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country. Where is our border czar?" Vance said on X.

Other communities, while not being accused of eating pets, have been criticized for the perceived strangeness of what they were cooking when they were new arrivals, such as Italians using too much garlic or Indians too much curry powder. Minority groups with a longer presence in the country were and are still not exempt from racist stereotypes — think derogatory references to Mexicans and beans or insulting African Americans with remarks about fried chicken and watermelon.

"As a father I'm concerned that my son is going face the same hate I did when I grew up being depicted to one who has aids or one that was a boat person," Solages said. "This is going to lead to a very dangerous state of affairs for our young people."

Long Island has a huge Haitian community. 

"They have expressed the fear that they are now living in because their children and entire culture are being depicted as people who eat cats and dogs," Solages said. 

Officials in Ohio say there are no reports of this actually happening.

Haitian Americans on Long Island are now demanding Nassau County elected officials denounce the racist and dangerous remarks.

"Silence is complicity. I reached our republican leaders, Bruce Blakeman and Anthony DeEspoisteo," Solages said. 

FOX 5 reached out to Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman for a comment and his spokesperson said: 

"Nassau County is proud of the hard-working Haitian Americans who live in our communities. County Executive Blakeman is confident that President Trump meant no disrespect to that community."

The community is also calling on the former president and Vance to retract their comments and apologize. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.