SPRINGFIELD, Ohio 鈥 The sign on the bridge startled me out of an early-morning stupor.
We were driving on Interstate 70 at dawn on Saturday on the way to a college visit for our youngest daughter. The sun was barely coming up when we pulled over to get some gasoline and coffee. Heading back to the interstate, the bridge overhead had one of those welcome signs in big print:
Welcome to Springfield.
We were driving in the town that had become the center of a national immigration storm, fueled by false and racist stories about Haitian immigrants that were pushed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance, who represents Ohio in the Senate.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e eating the dogs,鈥 in last week鈥檚 presidential debate, suggesting the immigrants were stealing pets for food. Vance doubled down in the Sunday talk shows, with the perhaps unintentional admission that the stories were made up. The impact in Springfield has been dire: Schools closed because of bomb threats; Haitian families fearful for their lives; a cultural festival canceled out of an abundance of caution.
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The Haitians in question, said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, also a Republican, were invited to Springfield to help a struggling town increase its population and work force. They are refugees, resettled legally in the state as part of a federal program.
Some of those Haitians seeking escape from a war-torn country, as well as larger numbers of refugees from Venezuela, Afghanistan, Syria, and other Central and South American countries, have come to St. Louis under similar programs. On Monday, the city鈥檚 top business organization, Greater St. Louis Inc., announced that those efforts have been more successful in recent years than ever before, as a percentage of population growth.
According to recent Census Bureau estimates, St. Louis among the top 30 metro areas in the country for growth in foreign-born population last year, with the biggest increase coming in Hispanic population. It鈥檚 a victory, or the beginning of one, that has been a long-time coming. For more than a decade now, business leaders in St. Louis, and advocates for immigration, have pointed to the need to increase immigrant population in the city to spur economic development.
was created in 2012 with the precise goal of increasing the foreign-born population in St. Louis. The population 鈥 at 5.7 percent of the metro area as of last year 鈥 is still behind several major cities that have larger than 20 percent foreign-born populations, but the increase last year of 23 percent year-over-year, was nearly double that of the second-place region 鈥 Pittsburgh 鈥 and significantly higher than every other major metro in America.
This, like the refugee resurgence in Springfield, Ohio, is worth cheering. It鈥檚 an American success story.
鈥淭hese numbers show that the focused and intentional work taking place to make our metro a destination for immigrants is paying major dividends,鈥 said Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis, Inc., in a news release announcing the city鈥檚 success at recruiting immigrants. St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and city of St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones joined in the celebration, thanking the new immigrants to St. Louis for helping this region point toward a better future.
Amid this backdrop, it鈥檚 disheartening to see one of the nation鈥檚 major political candidates 鈥 and too many members of his party 鈥 using their platforms to decry immigrants, while so many cities and states are doing what America has always done, turning to the next batch of immigrants looking for opportunity in what former President Ronald Reagan famously referenced in his farewell speech to the nation as the If that city had to have walls, Reagan said in that speech, then 鈥渢he walls had doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.鈥
In St. Louis, despite having to fight through some ill-advised rhetoric from Republicans in Jefferson City and St. Charles County, the doors to immigrants are open.
Whether it鈥檚 Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, or Bosnians, Venezuelans and Afghans in St. Louis, the future of cities is built on immigrants who come here looking to fulfill their version of the American Dream, while adding to the beautiful and ever-changing mosaic of a country that believes 鈥 mostly 鈥 in welcoming its neighbors.
鈥淲e came here to work hard, to improve ourselves, and to have a better life,鈥 Pedro Reyes told me in May. He, his wife and their daughter, who traveled the dangerous migrant route from South America to the U.S. over a harrowing couple of months, are part of that record-breaking wave of immigrants changing St. Louis for the better. They were recruited here by the International Institute of St. Louis, a refugee resettlement nonprofit, and had good jobs waiting when they arrived.
Since the Reyes came here in 2024, they don鈥檛 even show up on the 2023 growth statistics, and Arrey Obenson, the president and CEO of the International Institute, says the numbers should keep going up.
鈥淏etween January and August, we resettled over 800 refugees in the St. Louis area 鈥 more than double the number of refugees we served during the same period in 2023, and the highest level we have seen since the 1990s,鈥 Obenson said in an email. 鈥淎fter escaping violence or persecution, we welcome refugees as they embark on a new chapter in their lives and help them find safety and opportunities to thrive. We also know that the presence of immigrants in our community provides value.鈥
St. Louis leaders are putting out the welcome mat for the next generation of immigrants to the world鈥檚 melting pot. That鈥檚 the American way.