Ohio faces 'significant housing crisis' due to Haitian migrant flux

City Manager Bryan Heck of Springfield sent an urgent letter requesting federal aid to U.S. Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. Despite the city’s ongoing advancements in housing projects, the sheer number of migrants arriving and residing in the area has strained resources to their limits.

Since January 2021, an estimated 12 million people have entered the country illegally, coming from more than 150 countries.

For weeks, more than 800 Haitians were living at an east-side apartment complex called Colonial Village. According to a local refugee and immigrant advocacy group, a large portion of those Haitians are housed in units that were deemed unsafe and are currently without heat or other necessary utilities, according to Cierra Johnson with NBC4 Today.