When the clock struck midnight on July 10th, tens of thousands of immigrants who once legally worked in the United States were no longer able to do so. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration has authority to cancel the Temporary Protected Status program for people from countries like Haiti and Syria.
Temporary Protected Status allowed people who were fleeing violence in their home countries to legally live and work in the U.S.
Now that their work authorizations have expired, some politicians, like Ohio's governor, Mike DeWine, have expressed concern.
In a statement, Governor DeWine acknowledged the positive impact some TPS holders — like many Haitians who started living in his state — have had.
"Today’s decision is a legal decision. As I have stated in the past, the policy to remove these individuals from this country is a mistake,” said Gov. DeWine.
"But, more importantly, changing the immigration status of these individuals is not in the best interest of the United States nor Ohio."
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Viles Dorsainvil is a Haitian TPS holder. Dorsainvil is able to keep working under another status, for now. But he says many of his Haitian neighbors in Springfield, Ohio, are suddenly unable to provide for themselves.
“I think this creates more fear, because you know, here folks live paycheck to paycheck in the sense that if you do not have unemployment, automatically you won't be able to provide for yourself or for your kids,” says Dorsainvil.
In 2024, Springfield received national attention, when then-candidate Trump falsely claimed Haitians were eating their neighbors’ pets.
But in reality, local leaders, like republican Charles Patterson, say Haitians revived a dying city.
“I've been here for almost six decades now, and I’ve always seen the decline of our community,” says Patterson. “Since 2020, basically, since COVID was over, we've seen a resurgence in our community. We've seen our community expanding.”
A coalition of faith leaders say if it becomes necessary, they’re prepared to shelter Haitians in their churches.
“We're not against ICE, we are against the deportation of people who will face death if they go back to Haiti,” says Pastor Carl Ruby, founder of G 92 and Springfield Neighbors United.
Ruby says he believes Christians are required to serve and protect those who need help.
“Jesus says, 'When I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was in prison, you visited me.' And the righteous responded, 'So, well, Jesus, when did we do that?' And Jesus says 'every time you did that for people who are hungry, people who are thirsty, people who are poor, or for foreigners, you did it for me.' So, how we treat foreigners, how we treat Haitian refugees who've come to our city is how we treat Jesus,” says Ruby.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision, the Department of Homeland Security canceled TPS for seven countries; Ethiopia, Burma, South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Syria and Haiti. The decision affects about 350,000 people.
The State Department currently advises Americans not to travel to six of the seven countries, but DHS argues it’s safe enough for TPS recipients to return home.
