NBC News Tries to Make Charleroi Into Another Springfield

MRC Latino | September 23, 2024
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YAMICHE ALCINDOR: In recent years, many came legally to Charleroi to work at the local meat processing facility like Pierre-Richard Montplaisir.

Do you think what former President Trump is saying is true, that Haitians are having a negative impact here?

PIERRE-RICHARD MONTPLAISIR: No. No. When I came here like four years ago- so the town was a ghost town. And now we've got a group of people that are working and being taxed.

ALCINDOR: Montplaisir also works as an interpreter for the school system. Five years ago, 12 students were learning English as non-native speakers. This year, that number is 225.

ED ZELICH: We believe now diversity is our superpower.

ALCINDOR: But superintendent Ed Zelich says the state has provided additional funding.

ZELICH: We are not struggling. Are there more things we'd like to have? Absolutely. But I think any school district would be able to say that.

ALCINDOR: Misty Cassidy disagrees.

MISTY CASSIDY: There's just so many people and there's just not enough resources. There's not enough jobs. There's not enough homes.

ALCINDOR: She's glad Trump, who she supports, has been calling attention to Charleroi and Springfield.

CASSIDY: People need to know that it's just not Springfield. This is coming to a town near you.

ALCINDOR: What is coming to a town near you?

CASSIDY: Haitians, or immigrants that have poured over the border within the last couple years.

ALCINDOR: Why is that a bad thing, given the fact that some would say the United States is a nation of immigrants?

CASSIDY: They're not coming here to assimilate with us. They're coming here to take over. It seems.