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

Large numbers of people entering or living in America illegally are exacerbating the housing crisis, including in areas like Ohio far from the border.

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.

“Springfield has seen a surge in population through immigration that has significantly impacted our ability as a community to produce enough housing opportunities for all,” Heck wrote. “Springfield’s Haitian population has increased to 15,000 – 20,000 over the last four years in a community of just under 60,000 previous residents, putting a significant strain on our resources and ability to provide ample housing for all of our residents.”

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, presented the letter in a Senate Banking Committee hearing Tuesday as an example of how the swelling numbers are reducing the supply and increasing the cost of housing.

Vance cited how Springfield is “trying to build 5,000 new housing units, which is a very Herculean task in a town of about 55,000 people, but it's also hospital services, it's school services. There are a whole host of ways in which this immigration problem, I think, is having very real human consequences.”

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