By The New York Times (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-30 09:28:15 | Updated at 2024-09-30 11:41:58
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The lifelong Republican employs fewer Haitians than others in Springfield, but his life has been upended since Donald J. Trump spread falsehoods about immigrants in his hometown.
Sept. 30, 2024, 5:06 a.m. ET
For Jamie McGregor, a businessman in Springfield, Ohio, speaking favorably about the Haitian immigrants he employs has come to this: death threats, a lockdown at his company and posters around town branding him a traitor for hiring immigrants.
To defend himself and his family, Mr. McGregor has had to violate his own vow to never own a gun.
“I have struggled with the fact that now we’re going to have firearms in our house — like, what the hell?” said Mr. McGregor, who runs McGregor Metal, which makes parts for cars, trucks and tractors.
“And now we’re taking classes, we’re going to shooting ranges, we’re being fitted for handguns,” he said on a recent day, pulling up a photo of his 14-year-old daughter clutching a Glock.
A fifth-generation Springfield resident whose family supports the arts and charities in the small city between Columbus and Dayton, Mr. McGregor prides himself for having among his employees people who were hired by his grandfather when he was a toddler.
When he was struggling a few years ago to fill positions for machine operators, forklift drivers and quality inspectors, Mr. McGregor, 48, began hiring Haitians who had recently settled in Springfield, and they now represent about 10 percent of McGregor Metal’s labor force of 330.
Among them is Wilford Renvil, who has operated a mechanical press since 2021. He fled Haiti, where he had a white-collar job at a telecommunications company, after bandits took control of his town and went on killing sprees. His attendance record at McGregor is perfect, Mr. Renvil said, and he has befriended his American co-workers.
