John Legend denies Haitian migrants are eating pets in his home city of Springfield, Ohio: Nobodys eating dogs

Pop star John Legend has lectured those in his home city of Springfield, Ohio to embrace the many “challenges” of a huge “influx of Haitian immigrants” — while insisting local pets are safe from ending up on dinner tables.“You may have heard of Springfield, Ohio, this week,” Legend, 45, said in a lengthy Instagram video on Thursday, noting how his hometown had been “discussed by our presidential candidates” at the previous night’s debate.“Nobody’s eating cats.Nobody’s eating dogs,” the two-time Emmy Award-winning singer insisted, bluntly dismissing the now-viral claims shared by former President Donald Trump.“How about we love another?” he asked, calling himself by his real name, “John R.

Stevens from Springfield.”The “All of Me” pop star said that although his native city has had an “influx of Haitian immigrants,” it came after Springfield’s population had been “shrinking for decades.”“We didn’t have enough opportunity, so people left and went somewhere else,” said Legend, who changed his Instagram handle to show he was from Springfield despite moving away years ago.“When I was there, we had upwards of 75,000 people, and in the last five years, we were down to like 60,000 people,” he said.The Haitians who “came to our country legally” helped fill those jobs, he said — while acknowledging the “challenges” of newly arrived migrants marking a “25% increase” in his hometown’s population.Those “growing pains” for Springfield included an influx of people with “new language, new culture” — and “new dietary preferences,” Legend said.“So there are plenty of reasons why this might be a challenge for my hometown,” he added, likening it to immigrants who for decades have come chasing “the American dream.”“I think all of us need to have the same kind of grace that we would want our ancestors” with “our Haitian brothers and sisters.”Legend also lectured his followers with �...