SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Springfield remains in the spotlight after Republicans, including Former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, used the community as an example in their campaign platforms for immigration reform.

The political comments put the city in a dangerous position, fielding dozens of threats made toward schools, government buildings and the people who live there.

When Ralph Russell moved to Springfield in 1964, it was a different time.

“At one time, you could rent a house in Springfield for $100,” he said. “This is a true story. And now it is so high, it is pathetic.”

Russell said he watched as rents increased to roughly $1,200 per month in the town he’s still happy to call home.

“This is one of the cheapest and best places to live in the world,” he said. “And I’ve been all around the world, I’m a veteran.”

But after the pandemic, he said he noticed a shift in the population.

“With the Haitians coming over and stuff like that, and buying up all the property,” he said. “They’re buying the clubs, they’re buying the party houses and the churches.”

He said they also brought a boost to the workforce.

“A lot of us here in Springfield don’t want to work since the pandemic,” Russell said. “You know, as a businessman myself, I own a painting company, people didn’t want to go back to work. They will, I have to say, they will work.”

But he said Trump’s untrue comments about the city’s Haitian population during his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris are leading to more rumors and uncertainty within the community.

“You got your ex-president saying one thing, you got City Hall saying another thing, you got people thinking some wrong things and right,” Russell said. “So it’s, it's chaos.”

That tension is impacting students at Wittenberg University.

“It’s been a little bit stressful because after the presidential debate, that's been the only talk that's been around town,” said Senior Dimitri Gonzalez. “And I feel it's kind of been projecting a negative outlook on the community of Springfield.”

He said the Haitians are making positive contributions to the community.

“They're filling up jobs in factories that haven't been filled up in a while,” he said. “And that's kind of helping raise the economy back here, which is really important.“

But their safety, and the safety of the entire city, became at risk following the national attention.

“You have these allegations and shooting allegations, and we want everyone to be safe,” Gonzalez said. “But we don't know how trust like worthy those allegations are. So that kind of just puts a halter on everything here.“

“It was kind of just like, ‘Oh, what?’” Ellis Culligan said about his reaction to receiving an alert from the school. “I kind of looked at it and I just was really confused.”

The alert notified the freshman and the rest of the campus community of recent safety concerns, including shooting threats and bomb threats.

“It’s pretty crazy because, like, you didn’t think that this was, like, going to happen,” said Freshman Asher Donahue. “Yeah, that was the last thing I expected.”

Classes were held virtually Monday and all campus facilities closed, putting a pause on training for these members of the school’s soccer team.

“The second team’s game was canceled today and then the varsity practice was canceled today,” Donahue said. “And then who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow?”

The situation in their college town is something these first-time voters plan to keep in mind when they cast their votes on Election Day.

“Now that it’s starting to affect me, I feel like now I might start thinking more into it, start doing more research because it has a direct impact on me,” Freshman Cole Schachnovsky said.