XENIA — Xenia City Manager Brent Merriman released a statement on Friday to refute a social media claim regarding Haitian refugees being housed in the city.

The statement from Merriman did not cite passages from a specific social media post, only referring to “anonymous accounts” having created the claims.

“This claim is patently false,” Merriman wrote. “The city has engaged in no such conversations concerning the refugee crisis in Springfield and has neither the resources nor desire to participate in any effort to relocate or house refugees or illegal aliens.”

The statement by Merriman says the anonymous post claimed 200 Haitian refugees were being housed at the site of the former Ramada Inn at the intersection of W. Main St. and Church St. Merriman wrote that the anonymous post is “pathetic and dangerous” and stories being made up in order to create outrage or panic is worse than the crisis itself in Springfield.

“We remind social media users that platforms like Facebook are the wild west of the digital age,” Merriman wrote. “We encourage citizen to help police this type of immature behavior by not buying into the nonsense, getting facts from legitimate sources and reporting these posts.”

Nearby Springfield has entered the national spotlight in recent weeks due to the nearly 15,000 Haitians immigrants which have arrived in the city since 2020, according to the Associated Press. The city was mentioned as a talking point during the Presidential candidate debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine earlier in the week announced he would be providing additional law officials and nearly $2.5 million in additional funding to assist health departments in the Springfield area.

Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.