"Like other immigrant groups, [Haitians] hear about opportunities by word of mouth.... In this case, they were drawn by the availability of well-paying jobs."

"And they also heard that the cost of living was pretty low in Springfield. So soon, more and more Haitians arrived. And they were very attractive to employers because they had authorization to legally work in the United States. And what they have is something called temporary protected status. It’s a designation given to people from countries in turmoil, like Haiti.... So a city that had a population just under 60,000, now possibly has 80,000.... By most accounts, Springfield benefits from this influx of Haitians. They have come to work. I heard... that Haitians are coming to work on time. They’re reliable. They’re drama-free. ... They’re sending their kids to schools, schools that actually had been losing students because the city had been shrinking. And they’re leasing homes and apartments.... [N]ewly refurbished homes are sprucing up the neighborhood. They have manicured gardens, and they look a lot more cheerful than blocks where homes are still boarded up...."

From "The Story Behind 'They’re Eating the Pets'/A false claim made by Donald Trump in the presidential debate has its origins in an Ohio town," yesterday's episode of the NYT "Daily." Transcript and audio at the link (which goes to Podscribe). I'm excerpting one aspect of the story — how a city in decline revived itself by attracting businesses, which had labor needs beyond what could be supplied by the residents of the city.

But please listen to the whole thing (or at least skim the transcript) to see how the NYT presents the entire complicated problem of Springfield, Ohio, the small city that fell into the meat grinder of the American presidential election.