After the Supreme Court ended Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants, those residing in Springfield could face deportation and are being called in for meetings with ICE officials. No enforcement action has been planned yet.
This week, temporary protected status for Haitian immigrants ended due to a Supreme Court ruling.
Haitians were granted temporary protected status after Haiti’s earthquake in 2010 killed over 222,000 people. Former President Biden’s administration extended protections for Haitians in 2021 after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.
The Haitian immigrant community in Springfield, Ohio lost work permits due to the termination of those protections this week.
Immigrants are receiving letters requesting them to report to a DHS facility in Cincinnati. The meetings are being held to review immigrants’ legal status, but no enforcement action is currently being taken.
“The federal officials are now telling us that they do not have any plans. They’ve received no instructions to have any kind of raids in Springfield. Now that can change, but they did tell us they’ve heard nothing,” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in a recent interview.
“It’s a mistake to say that [Haitians] can no longer stay in this country. I think that the people who have come here to work, the Haitians who came to Springfield, were filling jobs that had not been filled before. They are part of the resurgence of Springfield,” said the governor.
Approximately 330,000 Haitians are living in the United States with Temporary Protected Status. The program allows people from certain countries in conflict or facing natural disasters to live and work in the United States for a temporary period of time.
Ohio has about 30,000 Haitians with temporary status residing in the state. About 15,000 of them live in Springfield.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said he has not received any notice from ICE about planned enforcement operations in the community.
The effort comes as the Trump administration prioritizes curbing illegal immigration to the United States and securing the border. President Trump has ended former President Biden’s open-border policy and expelled immigrants residing in the United States illegally.
“Temporary Protected Status is exactly that – temporary. For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent. What we would say now is it’s closing time which means you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here,” said an ICE spokesperson in a statement.
The spokesperson declined to comment on current or future operations.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted in April to extend temporary protected status for Haitians through 2029. The bill is in the U.S. Senate, but the White House indicated that President Trump would veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
