Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has faced a series of conflicts of interests on key issues in his state, including with the ongoing Haitian migrant crisis affecting Springfield.
DeWine recently pledged support to Springfield to assist with the influx in Haitian migrants, according to Spectrum News. Over a period of years, DeWine and his wife have developed extensive ties to a charity in Haiti.
The charity was established in honor of Becky DeWine, their daughter who died in a car accident. The DeWine Family Foundation Inc. gave a $400,000 grant to the group “Hands Together” to fund a school in Haiti, according to the foundation’s 990 form that was filed in 2023.
Hands Together established the Becky DeWine school and dedicated it to the governor’s late daughter in 1999, according to its website. DeWine’s family held fundraisers for years on behalf of the charity in Ohio.
Governor DeWine is intimately familiar with Haiti and the Haitian people having supported charitable work there for decades. pic.twitter.com/Qx1Dkc77um
— Milton Cromwell 🌲 (@DualMagneto) September 9, 2024
The governor recently expressed support for Temporary Protected Status, the program that allowed many Haitian migrants to enter the U.S.
“I want to be very clear, totally very clear, I’m not against this program,” the governor stated. “I’m not against this program.” He added that there needs to be a plan and Ohio requires assistance from the federal government.
Oh look, Mr. Covid vaccine and Mr. East Palestine chemical burner is now ignoring the cries for help from Ohio citizens and is pushing the Deep State open borders agenda
He is celebrating the massive surge of 20,000 Haitians into 1 small OH town
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is a RINO pic.twitter.com/6TYf2iowIF
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) September 15, 2024
His support for Haitian migrants has drawn criticism from some conservatives online.
This governor Mike Dewine says all those immigrants from Haiti are necessary for us to have “workers”.
He’s a Republican.
WTF is going on? pic.twitter.com/z0r2GGPa1t— AvaArmstrong,🇺🇸Author (@MsAvaArmstrong) September 12, 2024
DeWine and his wife, Fran, have long had ties to Haiti. For over 20 years, the two made frequent trips to the country, ABC News 5 Cleveland reported.
“During his tenure as a U.S. senator from 1995-2007, DeWine kept Haiti on his political agenda,” YS News reported in 2010. The outlet went on to say that DeWine believes the “U.S. has an interest in promoting stability” in Haiti.
I don’t remember anyone talking about the DeWine Family’s longstanding relationship with a Haitian charity, do you? Mike’s family runs 34 schools in Haitian slums? That’s very nice of you, Governor.
Thanks for mentioning it, @NewsHour pic.twitter.com/m4OnMfB5Lh
— CowLivesMatter (@ProtesterLone) September 12, 2024
This isn’t the first time DeWine has had personal interests that ran into important issues under his purview as governor.
DeWine’s office came under scrutiny last year when a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, polluting the town with dangerous chemicals. The company donated $10,000 to Gov. Mike DeWine almost a month before the derailment, an investigation conducted by the outlet revealed.
Norfolk Southern had donated to the governor’s political funds since his first gubernatorial campaign in 2018, according to the Columbus-based outlet. The investigation revealed the company lobbied Ohio officials on various transpiration issues, including persuading officials to oppose legislation that would have created stricter rail safety regulations.
A DeWine spokesman said the campaign contributions had “no effect on his decisions,” WYSX reported.
DeWine also received thousands of dollars in donations from donors that oppose bans on transgender procedures for minors, the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) previously reported. The Ohio Children’s Hospital Association (OCHA) donated $10,000 in 2018 to the Mike DeWine and Jon Husted Transition Fund and another $10,000 in 2022.
He also received donations from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, ProMedica Children’s Hospital, and Cincinnati Children’s, all organizations that support transgender sex change procedures, the DCNF reported.
Oh, and would you look at that! The Ohio Children’s Hospital Association has given DeWine $20,000.
How nice of him to veto the bill that would have cost “gender affirming” children’s hospitals millions of dollars. pic.twitter.com/SDbBl2bxHe
— Parker Thayer (@ParkerThayer) December 29, 2023
“We are thankful for Governor DeWine’s thoughtful approach in thoroughly researching the issue of gender-affirming care and vetoing sub HB 68 today,” The OCHA President Nick Lashutka told the DCNF in a statement. “Gender-affirming care” is a euphemism for irreversible sex change procedures.
The governor vetoed a bill, HB 68, in 2023 that would have banned sex changes for minors and prohibited men from competing in women’s sports.
That bill is not the only issue DeWine allied with the left on – critics of the governor have also noted his past support for accepting refugees in Ohio.
DeWine previously told the Trump administration that Ohio would continue to accept refugees after the former president signed an executive order mandating State Department officials only resettle refugees in places that consented to the resettlement, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Mike DeWine wanted big businesses to move into his state, so he lured them in by promising to import thousands of cheap laborers at the expense of his own struggling, opioid-addicted citizens. He’s a perfect example of why voters have rejected old-guard, corporatist Republicans,…
— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) September 16, 2024
Springfield, a city of roughly 60,000, has been overwhelmed with 20,000 Haitian migrants in just a few years.