Southwest PA News

Marissa Jo Rorabaugh, a resident of Charleroi, said the increase of immigrants in Charleroi, Pennsylvania has made her feel "like a foreigner in my own country."

"I've never looked both ways on a one-way street more in my life," said Jo Rorabaugh. "I never thought I'd see the day when veterans are not welcome in a VA hospital because they are housing illegals. Career welfare bunnies are no longer the biggest drain on society. I have never in my life, felt like a foreigner in my own country."

According to an article by Inquirer, the number of immigrants in Charleroi has increased by over 2,000% since 2022. Most of these immigrants are from Haiti. In 2022, there were fewer than 5,000 people living in Charleroi. In 2020, foreigners made up less than 3% of the total population.

Haiti is designated as a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) country by the Biden-Harris administration. TPS designation allows immigrants travel authorization and employment authorization and prevents their removal from the United States. When an immigrant is designated TPS, the Department of Homeland Security cannot detain them based on their immigration status, according to U.S. Customs and Immigration Services.

Mark Killinger, a Charleroi principal who leads the district's English learning program, told the New York Times that elementary school students enrolled in English-learning classes were in the single digits. He said that today, nearly 35% of kindergarten students are enrolled in English learning classes.

Rorabaugh is a 48-year-old stay-at-home mother to a special needs daughter and has been married for 25 years. She has lived in Charleroi for the past ten years after moving back to Pennsylvania. Marissa was born and raised in the area.