Haiti migrants living in Springfield, Ohio, are reportedly leaving town following the election of Donald Trump as president earlier this month, because of the fear they will be deported.
The town of approximately 60,000 made headlines during the presidential election with some local residents upset with the influx of 15,000 to 20,000 Haitians during the past four years of the Biden presidency.
People were concerned about the strain placed on local schools and government services.
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance wrote in a post on X in September, “In Springfield, Ohio, there has been a massive rise in communicable diseases, rent prices, car insurance rates, and crime. This is what happens when you drop 20,000 people into a small community. Kamala Harris’s immigration policy aims to do this to every town in our country.”
In Springfield, Ohio, there has been a massive rise in communicable diseases, rent prices, car insurance rates, and crime. This is what happens when you drop 20,000 people into a small community.
Kamala Harris’s immigration policy aims to do this to every town in our country.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 13, 2024
Most of the Haitians are in the U.S. under federal Temporary Protected Status, which allows them to live and work legally. The program is for those from countries facing armed conflict or natural disasters.
President-elect Donald Trump told reporters at a news conference in California in September, “I can say this, we will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio.”
This will win Trump the election. Trump has announced intentions to initiate mass deportations from Springfield, targeting Haitian immigrants who are legally present in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
This group includes individuals with pending asylum claims,… pic.twitter.com/4BJu3xr8on
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 13, 2024
Should Trump end TPS on day one?
He added in a NewsNation interview last month, “Springfield is such a beautiful place. Have you seen what’s happened to it? It’s been overrun. You can’t do that to people. I’d revoke (the protected status), and I’d bring (the migrants) back to their country.”
The Guardian reported Sunday that Margery Koveleski, who has an office in Springfield that helps migrants settle into the community, has noticed a change recently.
“Haitians are now coming to her to figure out how to leave,” the news outlet said.
“Some folks don’t have credit cards or access to the internet, and they want to buy a bus ticket or a plane ticket, so we help them book a flight,” she told The Guardian. “People are leaving.”
Jacob Payen, a co-founder of the Haitian Community Alliance, who runs a business that helps Haitians in Springfield file their tax returns, said, “People are fully aware of the election result, and that is why they are leaving; they are afraid of a mass deportation.”
“Several of my customers have left. One guy with his family went to New Jersey; others have gone to Boston. I know three families that have gone to Canada,” he added.
Others are believed to have moved to nearby cities in Ohio, such as Dayton, where they feel they can blend in better.
GOP Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine — who was born in Springfield and traveled many times to Haiti for humanitarian work — wrote in a New York Times opinion piece in September that Haitian workers are part of the economic resurgence the area has experienced.
“I met with Springfield manufacturing business owners who employ Haitians. As one of them told me, his business would not have been able to stay open after the pandemic but for the Haitians who filled the jobs,” he wrote.
DeWine said Oct. 30 at a news conference, “I was asked the question several weeks ago: What would happen if all the Haitians were gone from Springfield?
“And the reality is that some of the economic progress that we have made, that Springfield has made, would go away. Haitians came here to work. They were hired because they would work. They were hired because there were openings that could not be filled by companies.”
Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan told Fox News on Monday his priorities will be deporting illegal aliens with criminal records.
Border Czar Tom Homan’s top 3 priorities upon taking office:
1. Deport the dangerous criminal aliens.
2. Secure the border.
3. Save the missing children.
🔥 🔥 🔥 pic.twitter.com/oluFdfCin9
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 18, 2024
“And I think the president has been clear on the stage. We will prioritize public safety threats and national security threats,” he said.
There are three rails to Trump’s plan he explained: deportation, securing the border, and locating the over 300,000 missing children released to unvetted sponsors under the Biden administration.
Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly stated J.D. Vance was from Springfield.
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