Charleroi still feeling effects of Trump’s speech
A week later, there’s plenty of national attention on the borough’s Haitian population.
Remarks by former President Donald Trump in a campaign speech last week continue to make waves in Charleroi.
Trump referenced Charleroi as a small, 4,000-person town and brought up Haitian immigrants who have moved to the borough over the past few years.
“What a beautiful name, but it’s not so beautiful now,” Trump said. “It has experienced a 2,000% increase in the population of Haitian migrants under Kamala Harris. So Pennsylvania, remember this when you go to vote. This is a small town and all of a sudden they got thousands of people.
“The schools are scrambling to hire translators for the influx of students who don’t speak not a word of English, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Since Trump put Charleroi in the spotlight, the borough has continues to make headlines nationally and globally.
Part of the problem is that his comments weren’t entirely factual.
The borough has seen an increase in its immigrant population over the past five years, but it didn’t happen overnight.
There are about 2,000 immigrant residents in the borough, but only 600-700 of them are Haitian.
Clips of Trump’s statement have gone viral, and many media outlets have made their way to Charleroi in recent days to see what is happening.
For people who live in the borough, immigrants and long-time residents alike, there are a lot of questions, concerns and hurdles when it comes to change.
Borough officials have tried to handle those topics as they arise, and many organizations have pulled together to offer support and resources for immigrants as they navigate a new country and culture to