A Springfield, Ohio temp agency that profits off migrant labor is encouraging Haitian migration to the small Rust Belt city, reportedly drawing scrutiny from state and federal authorities.
First Diversity Staffing supplies Haitian labor to companies in the surrounding area including Amazon, Dole, and Topre, an automotive parts manufacturer. The company even provides transportation to the migrants, shuttling them to and from the company’s corporate clients.
But a Daily Wire review shows that First Diversity is doing more than recruiting Haitian migrants already in Springfield. The company appears to be actively recruiting Haitian labor from other parts of the United States, encouraging migrants on Instagram to leave states like Florida and “join us at First Diversity.”
“Do you speak Creole and English? Do you enjoy helping people? Would you like to help your community? Well join us at First Diversity,” a woman speaking Haitian Creole says in the post.
“Everyone has the right to work for a good company. If you live in other states like Florida, you speak Creole and English, you would like to make more money, you have no problem changing states, then join us at First Diversity where you will have the opportunity to help your community while you work to help your family.”
Springfield had less than 60,000 residents before the migrant influx brought in anywhere between 15,000 to 20,000 Haitians. Residents say the migrant surge has burdened their city, strained their resources, and made their streets less safe.
A report from Asra Nomani in the Jewish Journal claims that First Diversity and its president, George Ten, hasn’t simply attracted migrants from other states, but actually bused migrants all the way from Florida to Springfield, directly contributing to the influx.
First Diversity and Ten have now caught the attention of federal and state authorities, Nomani says, writing that both the FBI and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost are investigating Ten and his company over human trafficking allegations.
Neither the Department of Justice or the Ohio Attorney General’s office responded to a Daily Wire request for comment.
First Diversity has a record of relocating workers. Its website and social media pages feature videos detailing how it brought workers from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic into the United States.
Springfield native Glenda Bailey says that Ten and his company are “responsible for everything that has happened in this city.” Bailey told The Daily Wire that the Haitian influx has resulted in “the deaths and injuries of innocent Americans,” “skyrocketing car insurance rates,” and a “housing crisis that put Americans on the streets.”
Bailey, who is now active in her local Republican Party, went on to say that First Diversity’s “quasi-legal workforce of Haitians” is “replacing Springfield’s American workforce,” echoing concerns from other residents.
Ten may also be profiting from the Haitian influx through a second business venture. The First Diversity president is also listed as the agent behind Ten Enterprises LLC, a company that owns various properties around town, on Ohio’s Secretary of State’s website. Ten Enterprises LLC owns 48 properties in Springfield, and the Washington Examiner reports that Haitian migrants rent at least some of these homes.
It isn’t just Ten and his company that could have a financial interest in the mass resettlement of Haitians in Springfield. The Greater Springfield Partnership, a non-profit that advocates for business interests in the city, released a statement expressing their support for the Haitian migrant resettlement, saying that the migrants provide labor. The organization lists Dole and Topre, both of whom hire Haitians, among its sustaining investors.
First Diversity did not respond to a request for comment.
