Former President Donald Trump caught flak from Democrats and the media for acknowledging during Tuesday's debate concerns raised by residents of small U.S. towns, such as Springfield, Ohio, about the negative impact of the massive influx of migrants, predominately from Haiti, that has occurred under the Biden-Harris administration.

While one of the specific concerns mentioned by Trump, the killing and eating of household pets, remains largely anecdotal and unsubstantiated, there is ample evidence that small towns like Springfield, and others like Charleroi, Pennsylvania, have been overrun and overwhelmed by migrants, according to the Daily Wire.

Unfortunately for the beleaguered residents of those small towns, their valid concerns about the significant impact of a massive influx of migrants in recent years have been virtually ignored or simply dismissed by the current Democratic administration and its media allies.

Small Pennsylvania town's population doubled by migrants

The Daily Wire reported that Charleroi is a small town in western Pennsylvania that, as of 2022, had a population of just 4,200 residents but has since seen that population count roughly double because of a rapid influx of mostly Haitian migrants.

That has resulted in severe strain on limited resources for public services like healthcare and schools. According to a local CBS affiliate report in March, the Charleroi school district was compelled to spend an additional $400,000 on English-language coaches and interpreters because the majority of the migrants don't speak English at all.

The report noted that the district anticipates spending another $300,000 next year for the same reason, and is now begging the state for financial assistance given the impossibility of raising those funds through higher taxes on the local populace of native residents.

The Daily Wire further reported that the influx of Haitian migrants to Charleroi over the past few years has also led to an increase in crime and traffic accidents, given that the migrants are granted driver licenses because of their federal "protected" status under the Biden-Harris administration even though they don't know how to drive or are unfamiliar with American customs on the roadways.

In response, per a local media report, the small regional police department has substantially upped its budget to help deal with the increased demand on law enforcement officers who must respond to near-weekly traffic accidents and other issues in the tiny community.

What local residents in Springfield are saying

In a separate report from the Daily Wire ahead of Tuesday's presidential debate, the outlet shed light on the situation in Springfield, Ohio -- a small town of less than 60,000 residents per the last Census that has witnessed an influx of upwards of 20,000 predominately Haitian migrants, or roughly one-third of the population, in just the past few years.

Local residents have been complaining for months at city commission meetings and expressing their concerns, including how the influx of migrants have overwhelmed local hospitals, schools, and welfare offices, as well as provided increased competition for scarce jobs and housing, not to mention a surge in crime and traffic accidents.

Some residents have complained about migrants catching and killing local wildlife, such as ducks and geese in the parks, or stopping to scavenge roadkill in the middle of traffic.

Others have alleged that the migrants have stolen and killed livestock from local farmers and household pets for food, or that they open and immediately eat and discard food items in the grocery store, among other shocking cultural differences.

The problems are real

Former President Trump caught a lot of heat from Democrats and the media for making mention of the migrant-related travails of the people of Springfield and other small towns that have been used as drop-off points for the Biden-Harris administration's policies that are bringing in tens of thousands of new migrants to the country every month.

The struggles are real, though, and Trump should be vindicated of the unwarranted criticism, if not commended for bringing attention to the plight of the otherwise ignored small-town residents who've been overwhelmed.