Former President Donald Trump said Friday that if he becomes president, he will execute large-scale deportations of migrants, beginning in Ohio and Colorado. 

“We’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country,” he told reporters during a news conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. “And we’re going to start with Springfield and Aurora.”

This vow came on the heels of his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this week, when he made the debunked claim about migrants in Springfield that “they’re eating the dogs — the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” Although ABC moderator David Muir said the city manager disputed this claim, which was also made by Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, Trump insisted he had seen people saying so on television. After the debate, Trump also shared AI-generated posts that showed pets supporting his presidential candidacy.

Speaking at his golf course at a vista above the Pacific Ocean, the Republican presidential nominee said he’s going to bring those migrants “back to Venezuela,” although most of the migrants in Springfield are Haitian. Thousands of Haitians have moved to the 58,000-person town of Springfield in the last few years, which Ohio’s Republican governor says has burdened the local health care infrastructure. 

But the vast majority of Haitian migrants are in the U.S. legally and are authorized to work. In the last two fiscal years, the U.S. has processed 156,000 Haitian migrants at the southern border, according to Customs and Border Protection figures. Of those, about 98% of them have been processed at legal entry points, mostly after securing appointments through a U.S. government app to enter the country legally.

Thousands of Haitians are in the U.S. legally under two programs: Temporary protected status, or TPS, provides deportation protections and work permits to immigrants from countries experiencing armed conflict, environmental disasters and other humanitarian emergencies. The program does not offer permanent legal status. During the Biden administration, the U.S. also began a new humanitarian parole program for Haitians, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Venezuelans that would allow people from these countries to live and work in the U.S. for two years without fear of deportation if they have a sponsor here who would provide them with financial support.

The Associated Press notes that after the pandemic, many Haitians moved to Springfield, which suffered a heavy decline in manufacturing in the 1990s, resulting in a shrinking population. But in recent years, the city has seen an uptick in labor demand, and Haitians have helped fill the jobs. 

Springfield’s mayor, police chief and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, all say there have been no credible reports that pets are being stolen and eaten by migrants. 

Some Springfield government and school buildings were closed Thursday due to bomb threats, according to a city statement. Vance is still casting Springfield as an example of poor immigration policy.

“In Springfield, Ohio, there has been a massive rise in communicable diseases, rent prices, car insurance rates, and crime,” Vance posted to “X” on Friday. “This is what happens when you drop 20,000 people into a small community. Kamala Harris’s immigration policy aims to do this to every town in our country.”

Gov. DeWine announced new state support for Springfield as it deals with large numbers of Haitian migrants. DeWine’s office said the migrants from Haiti have generally had little or no health care services, including vaccinations. The state is dedicating $2.5 million to expanding primary care access for Springfield residents. 

“I want the people of Springfield and Clark County to know that as we move forward, we will continue to do everything we can to help the community deal with this surge of migrants,” DeWine said. “The federal government has not demonstrated that they have any kind of plan to deal with the issue. We will not walk away.”

Mr. Biden on Friday blasted the rhetoric from Trump and other Republicans about Haitians in the U.S. during an event honoring Black excellence at the White House. 

He referred to Haitians in Springfield as “a community that’s under attack in our country right now. It’s simply wrong.” Mr. Biden said of Trump, “This has to stop, what he’s doing. It has to stop.”

contributed to this report.