When a group of 50 Democrats of Caribbean descent gathered to watch the presidential debate in a South Florida suburb this week, the room erupted with stunned laughter as former President Trump repeated a baseless rumor that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were stealing dogs and cats so they could eat them.
“How can this person be running for president?” asked Guithele Ruiz-Nicolas, former president of the Haitian American Democratic Club of Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale.
The laughter quickly turned to anger, said Ruiz-Nicolas, who came to the United States with her parents as a child in the 1960s and has seen shocking new levels of intolerance directed toward her people, who she said were long welcomed with open arms.
“Our best revenge is to go out and get the votes,” Ruiz-Nicolas said, adding that Trump’s comments have spurred renewed efforts to achieve that goal.
Florida is a long shot for Democrats. Trump won the state twice, including a 3-percentage-point victory in 2020. And the state has become more Republican since then with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ landslide re-election in 2022.
But before then it was considered a battleground. And recent polls show Trump holding margins of between 2 and 6 percentage points over Vice President Kamala Harris. That and an abortion rights referendum initiative that could turn out liberal voters have given Democrats glimmers of hope that they can at least be competitive and perhaps win some primary races.
The state's Haitian-American population, estimated at around 500,000, is the largest in the country and votes predominantly Democratic.
Haitian immigrants who flocked to South Florida, fleeing economic and political instability, have gone on to fill numerous seats on city and county commissions, in the state legislature and in Congress. Haitian doctors and nurses fill hospitals in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and surrounding suburbs. Many newer immigrants take back-breaking jobs that native Floridians shun.
“Let’s be clear: Haitians and other immigrants come to this country committed to education, hard work, and building a better life — not just for themselves but for all of us,” Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Haitian-American Democrat from South Florida, said in a statement. “They contribute to our economy, enrich our culture, and strengthen our communities. Trump’s comments are a distraction from the real issues we face, and we will not be fooled.”
There are an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 Haitian-American voters, but Fernand Amandi, a Miami-based Democratic pollster, said they likely make up less than 1% of the voting population. Many were already motivated to choose Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican immigrant who has led the Biden administration’s foreign policy in the Caribbean.
“In Florida, we’ve seen the state and the presidency decided by 537 votes, so any group can sway an election or the presidency,” Amandi said, referring to the margin of victory in the disputed 2000 election that was decided in the Sunshine State. “I just don’t think that’s in the cards for 2024.”
Amandi said it’s “plausible, probably not likely” that Florida would flip Democratic in the event of a Harris landslide victory nationwide.
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement that “the media is trying to distract the American people from the very real problems affecting the residents of Springfield, Ohio,” blaming a “sudden influx of immigrants” for rising rents, stressed schools and public safety incidents.
Trump's 2020 victory in Florida came after he called Haiti a “shithole country.”
That comment hurt me too.
“We see this movie repeat itself every time there is a tragedy of immigrants being forced to flee their countries,” said Gepsie Morisset-Metellus, co-founder and executive director of the Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center, a neighborhood resource center in North Miami.
Morisset-Metellus said she is especially concerned about Haitian residents of Springfield, Ohio, who are being threatened and intimidated by racists, according to published reports that have spread among the Haitian diaspora. Most of them are in the country legally and came to the area because there are jobs and a growing support network of other immigrants there.
Morisset-Metellus said community members are outraged and considering what steps to take, but she is certain of one of them.
“People have always cared about these elections and the Haitian-American community is a very engaged voting population and people don’t miss elections,” he said. “They care.”
