‘Not targeting;’ Immigration Accountability Response Team created after recent Springfield crashes

SPRINGFIELD — The City of Springfield is establishing an Immigration Accountability Response Team after a series of loud and raucous commission meetings.

City and county residents have complained about the dangers of immigrant drivers after a series of high-profile crashes.

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Dozens of speakers stepped to the podium to express their concerns at Wednesday night’s meeting. Many of them are concerned about members of the Haitian community driving, possibly without valid licenses.

“They don’t understand the language, they have no business on our roads,” one person said.

A van driven by a Haitian without an Ohio driver’s license crossed over the center line and hit a Northwestern Local Schools bus last month. The crash killed 11-year-old Aiden Clark, who was on his way to his first day of school for the year.

The uproar prompted the city commission to form the Immigration Accountability Response Team. The team will look at driving, housing, employment, and the sheer number of immigrants. Officials claim the team is about holding everyone, government, citizens, and immigrants, accountable.

“We’re not targeting,” Rob Rue, Springfield Assistant Mayor, told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell on News Center 7 at 6 p.m. “We are trying to provide information out so that immigrants are safe.”

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Denise Williams, President of the Springfield NAACP, understands the anger about the deadly bus crash but believes that many people are using it as an excuse to blame an immigrant community for things that have nothing to do with them.

She claims speakers made false statements about Haitians not being in the country legally or receiving large monthly refugee resettlement checks. Williams said she hopes the city initiative is designed to help immigrants adjust to a brand-new country.

“We are going to make sure you know how to drive, we are going to make sure you have a driver’s license, we’re going to make sure you have the proper paperwork,” Williams said.

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