Hundreds of Ohioans at a church in Springfield on Monday morning called for an extension of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians that had been set to expire Tuesday.
And later that day, U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to end temporary protected status for about 330,000 Haitians living in the United States. The program allows people from specific countries destabilized by conflict or natural disasters the chance to live and work in the United States for a set period of time.
The Trump administration, however, is expected to appeal the decision.
“This 11th hour reprieve is, of course, welcome,” Lynn Tramonte, executive director for Ohio Immigrant Alliance, said in a statement. “But people can’t live their lives like this, pegging their families’ futures to a court case.”
Haiti is currently plagued with gang violence and instability, with many fleeing the small Caribbean nation to the United States. Many of the refugees have no homes to return to in Haiti, and are fearful for their families’ safety if forced to return.
“This violence has created an unprecedented humanitarian disaster,“ said Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield. “We must recognize that forcing Haitians to return under these conditions is neither safe nor just.”
The U.S. Department of State currently has a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory for Haiti.
“Haiti is currently facing one of the most severe security crises in the world,” said Dorsainvil, who came to the United States from Haiti in 2020.
The event space at St. John Missionary Church in Springfield was over capacity, so at one point Springfield Mayor Rob Rue had to ask about 150 people to leave.
Monday’s event started with 38 seconds of silence, worship music and prayer. More than a dozen speakers — mostly faith leaders — said returning to Haiti is not an option, that Haitians are part of the Springfield community and that God calls people to love immigrants.
Dorsainvil said it’s unsafe to return to Haiti because of gang violence, political instability and hunger.
“Many families do not know where the next meal will come from,” he said. “Markets are inaccessible due to gang control, supply chains are disrupted, and livelihoods have been destroyed. Hunger and hatred today is not theoretical. It is immediate, daily and deadly.”
About 30,000 Haitians with temporary status live in central Ohio and an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians call Springfield home, with a mixture of temporary protected status, citizenship and other legal statuses.
“They are our health care workers, our meat-packing workers, our teachers, our doctors, our attorneys,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance.
Haitians were initially granted temporary protected status after Haiti’s earthquake in 2010 killed 222,570 people. The Biden administration extended Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in 2021 after the assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moïse.
“Most came here legally and then we changed the rules on them,” said Sister Sally Duffy, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati. “They are not violent criminals, but rather hard-working, contributing to our economy, seeing that their children are in school, revitalizing our neighborhoods in our cities like Springfield.”
Haitians in Springfield are currently scared to go to work or send their children to school, Dorsainvil said.
“It has been a constant fear in the community,” he said. “They are cautious not to drive.”
Some of the speakers talked about the possibility of families being ripped apart if parents lose their TPS status, but their children are citizens.
“If we do not get a re-designation — an extension of TPS for Haitians — we are going to start one of the major family separations in modern history,” Jozef said. “We are going to see over 100,000-U.S. born children being ripped from their families.”
Immigrants are a main driver of the U.S. economy, said Pastor Keny Felix, president of the Haitian Baptist Fellowship.
“Haitians TPS holders disproportionately work in direct-care roles, which means that they’re caring for our seniors,” Felix said. “Removing them worsens an already fragile health care system. … They are an integral part of our economic system. To lose them is not just losing bodies, but it’s losing institutional skills.”
He stressed extending TPS is not just an economic issue.
“From a humanitarian perspective, extending temporary protective status for Haitians and other immigrant groups, is about protecting human life,” Felix said.
Springfield experienced a shrinking population for decades as manufacturing jobs disappeared, but Haitian immigrants have grown Clark County’s workforce by more than 10,000 workers. About 60,000 people live in Springfield and Haitians make up about a quarter of the population.
“We have been shrinking for over 50 years,” Carl Ruby, pastor of Springfield’s Central Christian Church, said. “We shrunk all the way down to the population that we were in 1920. We were one of the fastest shrinking cities in America, and when the Haitians started arriving, we became one of the fastest growing cities in America, and this is a great place to live.”
Deporting Haitians in Springfield would eliminate roughly $300 million in annual spending from Clark County with an estimated economic loss projected to exceed $400 million.
“Removing families and workers from Clark County will not strengthen Springfield. It will destabilize it,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, executive director of Faith in Action. “We do not defend Haitian families because they are economically useful. We defend them because they are the image bearers of God and children.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine previously said Ohio officials were expecting a 30-day ICE surge in Springfield starting Wednesday.
“We pray for the best, but we prepare for the worst,” Dorsainvil said. “All that we can do is to make sure that we are mobilizing the community to help our brothers and sisters.”
Originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal. Republished here with permission.