Charleroi, Pennsylvania, residents remain divided on impact of immigrant influx
CHARLEROI, Pa. (KDKA) -- The influx of immigrants in Charleroi has divided residents over whether or not they are a welcome addition to their community.
Former president Donald Trump put a spotlight on the issue during a rally last week in Arizona, sharing how the population of Haitian migrants in the town had grown by 2,000%.
"Charleroi, what a beautiful name, but it's not so beautiful now," Trump said.
KDKA-TV first reported in March how we were told the immigrant population in Charleroi has grown by more than 2000% in the last two years. The majority of students in the local school district who need assistance learning English are from Haiti. The district has spent $400,000 on ELL teachers and an interpreter. Trump touched on that impact during his speech.
We traveled to Charleroi on Sunday to learn from neighbors directly how the influx of immigrants was impacting them. The community of just a few thousand just suffered a major loss a few weeks ago when 300+ workers at the Anchor Hocking Pyrex glass factory learned the plant would be shutting down.
While the response to that has united neighbors, the issue of immigrants has divided them.
"You can't even walk through the town without being next to them or them pestering you about something," life-long Charleroi resident Raymond Pappas said of the immigrants.
When asked why he had a problem standing next to immigrants, Pappas said, "Well it's not really a problem it's just that they make you feel uncomfortable."
Pappas is not alone in his belief. Off-camera, a number of neighbors told us they were either reluctant or refused to go downtown because of the immigrant population. Some said they were planning to leave the city soon, while others said the immigrants should go back to where they came from.
Along the city's main streets, many once-empty storefronts have been replaced by immigrant-owned stores.
"That's all their stores, I wouldn't want to go in them, I am afraid to go in them," said Emily Stasicha.
She fears going downtown altogether in part because she is worried about crime.
But, not all community members hold the same view of the immigrants.
"It's just hateful," Nancy Ellis said of the discourse about local immigrants she's seen online. "I believe there's racism, I'm sorry to say that about my hometown, but I don't know what else to call it, to just blanket everybody is wrong."
Mark Smith, who owns a music store and school in downtown Charleroi, told us he has lost half of his business in the past two years. He attributes the decrease to people not wanting to drive downtown. There are two many immigrants who don't know the local driving laws, he said.
"Them not knowing the language, the stops signs, the green lights, the red lights, which way to go, it's just very confusing, so they should be taught," Smith said.
He explained he has no problem with the simple fact there are immigrants in the community, explaining it is the sheer number of them which has caused problems.
Ellis didn't disagree with the description of how immigrants drive. She said the amount of immigrants in the community is a good thing, noting how they have brought new businesses to the city.
"They shop in town here, they go to the gas station, they are really for the most part really good people," Ellis said, adding a group of immigrants spend their day off cleaning the town.
Kristin R. Hopkins, the president of the Charleroi Borough, said the borough expresses "deep concern" over the representation of their community's challenges.
"Trump chose to exploit our town for political purposes, using divisive rhetoric to unfairly target the Haitian immigrant community," Hopkins wrote.
She says the city has seen a population rise for the first time in decades. She says Haitian immigrants have been "unjustly scapegoated" for many of Charleroi's problems.
"Rather than acknowledging the real economic issues the town is facing, some have chosen to unfairly target the Haitian community, judging the entire group based on misinformation and fear of outsiders," Hopkins said, adding welcoming immigrants is part of the town's history and that the focus should be about solutions, like what should be down about the job loss at the Anchor-Hocking plant.
Borough Councilman Larry Celaschi responded saying he does not support Hopkins statement, adding he was not informed of the press statement until after the fact.
He said the statement could put attempts to save the Anchor-Hocking plant in jeopardy.
"People [who are] Haitian don't come to America to make problem[s], people [who are Haitian] come to America to fix problem[s]," said Kendy Bureau, a Haitian immigrant who came to the town a year and a half ago.
He acknowledged the tension within the community.
"Haitian people come, Haitian people fix everything," he said, referring to the now-filled storefronts. "White people in Charleroi don't go to work every day, Haitian - everyday Haitian go to work."
