Charleroi Thrust Into National Spotlight

CHARLEROI, Pa. — Despite the nice weather on Monday, it was a quiet afternoon walking up and down the streets of Charleroi. But, the small river town is anything but quiet after it was thrust into the national spotlight over the weekend when former President Donald Trump made comments about the town’s Haitian immigrant population. Speaking at a campaign rally in Tucson, Arizona, Trump mentioned the influx of immigrants to the borough. “The small 4,000-person town of Charleroi, Pennsylvania. Charleroi. What a beautiful name. It’s not so beautiful now. Has experienced a 2,000% increase in the population of Haitian migrants under Kamala Harris,” Trump said. “This is a small town, all of a sudden they’ve got thousands of people.” The comments, amplified by Republican Senate Candidate Dave McCormick this weekend, were not well received by Kristin Hopkins-Calcek, the borough council president “I don’t look kindly at anyone using our town for political gain unless they are willing to offer help,” Hopkins-Cakcek told Channel 11’s Havranek. Hopkins-Calcek said Charleroi’s problems are not because of immigrants. She was out of town Monday attending meetings to try to keep the Anchor Hocking glass plant in town after the company announced plans to close it for good by the end of the year. With the new national attention, she’s calling for elected leaders to send funds to Charleroi to help. One of the things they need help with is students in the school district — many of whom don’t speak English. Channel 11 told you in the spring the district was working to support a growing number of English-as-a-Second-Language students, there are now 225 students in the program — up from 172 in March. “We are one of the only small towns in Pennsylvania that have a population increase and an upturn in our economy,” Hopkins-Calcek. I don’t want anyone’s comments on either side of the aisle to take us back.” Donald Trump won 61% of the vote in Washington County in both 2016 and 2020, and he’s hoping to get more out of the county this November.