Haiti's top official grateful for Americans' solidarity with migrants in Springfield, Ohio

By Michelle Nichols and Kylie Madry

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The head of Haiti's transition council, Edgard Leblanc, told the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday that he was thankful for Americans showing solidarity with Haitian migrants, especially in Springfield, Ohio.

Springfield has become a flashpoint in the U.S. presidential election after baseless claims by Republican candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Senator JD Vance, that migrants in the town were eating cats and dogs.

"I would like to extend a brotherly greeting to all friends of Haiti that have shown solidarity towards the migrants from our country, and that in particular, those living in Springfield, Ohio," Leblanc said.

City and state officials have repeatedly debunked the false claims from Republicans about Haitians living in Springfield, though Trump has since stood his ground, saying he would try to deport members of the community if reelected in November.

The majority of the 15,000 Haitian Americans in Springfield are in the U.S. legally. Springfield has faced a wave of bomb threats to schools and other facilities in the wake of the claims.

The U.S. Congressional Progressive Caucus, led by Representative Pramila Jayapal, condemned what it called the "vile and dehumanizing rhetoric" against Haitian migrants on Thursday and said in a statement that the words had turned into real danger for migrant families and their communities.

Leblanc, without naming Trump or Vance, cautioned that "the passions that naturally arise during an election campaign" should not be a pretext for xenophobia or racism in the United States.

FORMAL PEACEKEEPING MISSION POSSIBLE

Leblanc heads Haiti's transition council, a government body installed in April to bring security back to the violence-racked Caribbean nation.

Gang violence has plagued Haiti in recent months, with more than 700,000 people displaced, according to U.N. estimates.

The U.N. has backed a security mission in Haiti launched in June by Kenya, but with the mission's mandate set to expire at the end of the month, Leblanc urged the Security Council to consider converting it to a formal peacekeeping mission.

"This transformation would make it possible, not only to secure more stable funding and to extend the capacity of the mission, but also it would make it possible to strengthen the commitment of member states to security in Haiti," Leblanc said.

The Security Council was set to vote on the mandate's renewal on Monday.

Many Haitians are wary of an armed U.N. presence after previous missions left behind a devastating cholera epidemic and sex abuse scandals.

"I am convinced that this change of status, whilst recognizing that the errors of the past cannot be repeated, would guarantee the full success of the mission in Haiti," Leblanc said.

Earlier on Thursday, Kenyan President William Ruto said his nation would deploy additional police officers to Haiti to reach 2,500 in the Caribbean country by January.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations and Kylie Madry in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Scott Malone in Washington; Editing by Howard Goller)