Sen. Marco Rubio says

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) said on Sunday that the “the cats and dogs thing,” referring to baseless claims that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, has gotten “way more coverage than real-world impacts” of immigration.

He argued on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that there should be more attention placed on the effects that large numbers of migrants bring to small communities in the United States.

“There are literally people moving in by thousands in the case of Springfield. Charleroi in Pennsylvania, you know, that’s a 4,000-person city that has 2,500 migrants,” Rubio said. “In Springfield, you see reports, these are legitimate reports of huge increases in traffic accidents leading to slower police response time, overcrowded schools. I mean the strain this puts on a community, and if you complain about it, somehow you’re a bigot, you’re a racist, you’re a hater.”

At the Sep. 10 presidential debate, former President Donald Trump made the debunked claim about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, that “they’re eating the dogs — the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” ABC moderator David Muir immediately responded, citing a statement from the Springfield city manager saying, “There have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

Springfield’s mayor, police chief and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, also say there have been no credible reports that pets are being stolen and eaten by migrants.

A new CBS poll found that most voters think the claims about eating pets are false, but a large majority, 69%, of Trump backers say they’re probably true or certainly true. Voters mostly disapprove of Trump making these claims, but two-thirds of Trump voters approve of his doing so.

The Associated Press noted that after the pandemic, many Haitians moved to Springfield, which suffered a heavy decline in manufacturing in the 1990s and a decrease in population. In recent years, however, the city has experienced an increase in labor demand, with Haitians helping to fill those jobs. 

A large majority of Haitian immigrants are in the U.S. legally and are authorized to work. In the last two fiscal years, the U.S. has processed 156,000 Haitian migrants at the southern border, according to Customs and Border Protection figures.

DeWine defended the thousands of Haitian immigrants who are living in Springfield but noted there are challenges that come with 15,000 people settling in a city with a population of fewer than 60,000 in the last couple of years. 

“These Haitians came in here to work because there were jobs, and they filled a lot of jobs. And if you talk to employers, they’ve done a very, very good job and they work very, very hard,” he said.

At the same time, DeWine announced new state support for Springfield as it deals with a large number of Haitian migrants. DeWine’s office said the migrants from Haiti have generally had little or no health care services, including vaccinations. The state is dedicating $2.5 million to expanding primary care access for Springfield residents. 

“I want the people of Springfield and Clark County to know that as we move forward, we will continue to do everything we can to help the community deal with this surge of migrants,” DeWine said. “The federal government has not demonstrated that they have any kind of plan to deal with the issue. We will not walk away.”

Rubio, on “Face the Nation,” continued to defend residents who live in towns like Springfield, arguing that they have a right to be upset by the effects that an uptick in migrants has had on their towns.

“That is a story here that everyday Americans are being made to feel like they’re haters because they’re complaining about something all- any of us would complain about,” Rubio said. “If any of us, I don’t care who we are, live in a city of 4,000 people, and you bring in 2,500 migrants overnight into one place, there are going to be problems there. It doesn’t make you a bigot there. That should be what we’re focused on.”

There have been more than 30 bomb threats made in Springfield, Ohio, since false claims surfaced about Haitian migrants eating people’s pets, according to Dewine.

Rubio said on Sunday, in regards to a role a foreign nexus may play in these threats, that it would be uncommon.

“A lot of these- these calls where they call and tell the SWAT team to go to someone’s house because there’s a murder occurring. A lot of these come from overseas as well,” Rubio said. “That doesn’t mean it’s being directed by a government overseas. It could be, I haven’t heard that. But just because they’re coming from overseas doesn’t mean a government is behind it. But yeah, we have these kinds of individuals all over the world that like to do these kinds of things.”