Bill Monaghan, a former reporter, told Blaze News’ Julio Rosas that some Springfield locals are afraid to speak out against the 20,000 Haitians because they don’t want to be called racist for wanting to protect their town.

Monaghan told Rosas that the plan to move the Haitians in began in 2014, when the city started the “Welcome Springfield” program, long before anyone in the area knew about it. Officials in the area thought the plan would stop the city’s population loss, but now that there isn’t a plan in place to help newcomers fit in, the area is having a lot of problems.

“A big part of the reason people don’t want to talk is that they are afraid of being ignored and called racist.”

It’s going on everywhere. “It’s not just Springfield,” said Monaghan. “I feel like we lost this fight before we even knew we had one.”

In the past month, Donald Trump and JD Vance, said that Haitians were eating the area’s animals and pets. This brought more attention to the Springfield area.

He took Rosas to a park and said that ducks used to gather there but now there are none.

Monaghan said, “This pond used to be full. They don’t move; they used to live here. They were all gone, and I was told it was because Haitians eat them. I’m not sure if that’s true, but it made me wonder what was going on.”

According to Monaghan, the reports made him start going to city hall meetings to find out what was going on in his neighborhood.

The city leaders’ behavior toward people who brought up other problems related to the migrant situation shocked Monaghan. “It was shocking how hateful and rude they were,” she said.

He told Blaze News that he had planned to live in Springfield for the rest of his life, but that the problems caused by the large number of foreigners have made him think about moving. He said that the most worrying problems in the community are more traffic accidents, higher rent prices, and overworked emergency services.

Rosas asked Monaghan if some town residents are afraid to speak out because they think city leaders will punish them by calling them racist or cruel.

“That’s a big worry for people because you can see it,” Monaghan stated, adding that city leaders have mostly ignored the worries of the people who live there.

“They don’t care about you. They imply that your worries are caused by misplaced racism when, once more, people are talking about problems like not enough affordable housing, not enough housing at all, and jobs that aren’t posted locally but are being hired for by temp agencies with contracts to bring a lot of people to Springfield,” he said.

“I think that much of the reason people are afraid to talk is that they are ignored and called racist,” Monaghan said.