“I’ve had some of my clients reaching out and asking me, ‘Well, what do we do now?’ ” attorney Lana Marcius Joseph says, as false rumors persist that Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets in Ohio

Haitian Immigration Lawyer Says Ohio Clients Are Panicked amid New Wave of Hate: ‘Everyone Is Disheartened’

In the days since Republican White House candidates Donald Trump and J.D. Vance platformed a baseless conspiracy theory about Haitian people eating neighbors’ pets in Springfield, Ohio, migrants who sought refuge from violence in the Caribbean have faced new types of threats.

“I’ve had some of my clients reaching out and asking me, ‘Well, what do we do now? Given what’s happening in Ohio, should we be looking for another place to relocate? What impact will that have on our immigration case?’ ” says Lana Marcius Joseph, a Haitian-born immigration lawyer who represents clients around the United States, including in Springfield.

The Dayton suburb has recently become home to thousands of Haitian citizens fleeing a surge of gang violence, who were granted temporary legal status in the U.S. through a humanitarian parole program. The relatively new immigration process involves careful security vetting, and is unrelated to the mass migration of Haitians who entered the States at the southern border.

“I want to say at least 80 to 90% of Port-au-Prince has been controlled by gangs, and they make it impossible to live there because you can’t go to work, or you could be at home and you’re hearing gunshots all over,” Joseph says of Haiti’s capital city. “It’s very traumatizing, and so many residents have to deal with the facts: Do I want to come here in the United States, given the access to come here legally, and start my life all over again? Or do I risk my life every day hoping maybe I will make it?”

Related: Daughter of Haitian Immigrants Says Trump’s ‘Eating the Pets’ Comment Opens Old Wounds: ‘It’s So Ignorant’ (Exclusive)

Joseph tells PEOPLE that the Haitian parolees who settled in Springfield are more educated than most people realize, several with backgrounds in medicine, law and business.

“These are people who are prominent in their own community, doing great work, but now they have to migrate here in the United States and are trying to figure out how to navigate this whole system and the culture itself,” she says. “Many of them have had to leave their houses [in Haiti], everything that they have worked for, just to save their lives.”

On Monday, Sept. 9, Ohio Sen. Vance — now the Republican vice presidential nominee — claimed without evidence that Springfield residents “have had their pets abducted and eaten” by Haitian migrants. Numerous local officials quickly jumped in to say that the allegations were false.

“In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,” said Karen Graves, Springfield’s strategic engagement manager, in a statement shared with PEOPLE.

Related: J.D. Vance Posts Baseless Claim That Haitian Immigrants Are Eating Pets in Ohio as Officials Say It’s Not True

The following day — at the first presidential debate between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris — Trump amplified the conspiracy theory while deflecting from a question about why he pressured his party to kill the Senate’s bipartisan border security bill back in January.

“Look at what’s happening to the towns all over the United States,” he said, of immigration. “In Springfield, 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.”

ABC News’ David Muir, who co-moderated the debate, refuted his claim; Harris chuckled in disbelief before shaking her head with a concerned look.

Joseph, whose family immigrated from Haiti on a boat in 1991, called Trump’s comments embarrassing and hurtful.

“I was in shock to just sit there and hear this man say these things on national TV. And I’m looking at it, and millions of people are watching this, not only just in the United States, but all over the world,” she says. “Bringing these types of ideas is only dividing us. It’s not doing anything positive or uniting us in any kind of way, but it is just a way to attack us again.”

She continues: “Taking away the skin, the culture, the language, we all bleed the red blood all the same.”

Joseph is based out of Atlanta, but says that in the tight-knit Haitian community, “When one of us is hurt, all of us are hurting.” In Ohio, she adds, there’s been a renewed sense of hurt.

“You have a lot of young children who are in school, and so many of them who have migrated here recently, and this makes it very difficult for them to adapt,” she explains, noting that there have been examples of bullying and name-calling. “Everyone is very disheartened.”

Related: Father of Ohio Boy, 11, Killed in Accident with Haitian Driver Begs Trump and Vance to Stop Using Son as Pawn to ‘Spew Hate’

On Thursday morning, a bomb threat was made against Springfield City Hall and other buildings in the town of 60,000 people, including an elementary school. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue told The Washington Post that the threat “used hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in our community.”

“Springfield is a community that needs help,” Rue said in an interview with the Post, calling on national leaders to offer help rather than “hurt a community like, unfortunately, we have seen over the last couple of days.”

Spectrum News 1 Ohio reports that several additional school buildings were evacuated on Friday, Sept. 13, per guidance from the local police.

Joseph claims that several of the people she represents are “traumatized” by recent political events and feel time pressure to make progress in their immigration cases.

“Many of our clients, they’re actually telling me, ‘How do we continue this process? How do you expedite my process so maybe this can be finalized before the election?’ ” she says. “Because in their mind, they are thinking … ‘If [President] Trump is in power, what exactly is our future going to look like?’ ”

Remembering her own immigration experience when she was younger, she tells PEOPLE that it’s tough to see.

“The resilience and determination of the Haitian people are truly inspiring,” she says.

“If people are able to look beyond these disparaging claims, you will find that we are loving people who just need a chance to continue living our life and thriving and contributing to this great country that we call America.”