The Trump administration is limiting a program that has allowed about 19,000 people to come to the U.S. legally and settle in Ohio, including thousands of Haitians in Springfield.
Temporary Protected Status has been available to people who are fleeing a natural disaster or violence. It doesn’t provide individuals a pathway to American citizenship.
According to the Congressional Research Service, as of September 2024, 19,070 immigrants live in Ohio under TPS. Numbers for specific nationalities aren't available.
Shortly after coming into office, the Trump administration terminated TPS for people from 17 countries because it claims the program is being exploited and the renewal has become automatic.
This protection ends for Venezuelans on April 7, 2025. It had been extended several times since 2021.
Other countries impacted include Afghanistan (TPS ends May 20), Cameroon (ends June 7), El Salvador (ends Sept. 9, 2026), Nepal (ends June 24), South Sudan (ends May 3), Ukraine (ends Oct. 19, 2026) and Yemen (ends March 3, 2026).
For some Haitians, TPS ends Aug. 3, depending on when they entered the U.S. Haiti’s TPS has been extended six times since 2010.
Roman Pierre manages the Rose Goute Creole Restaurant in Springfield. He came to the city on Temporary Protected Status in 2019 because of extreme gang violence.
"I decided to come because at that time I was in Port au Prince. The country, there was too much chaos," Pierre said.
The gangs caused the company where he worked to leave the country, Pierre said, and wreaked havoc on his own small business. Simply traveling in Port au Prince was dangerous, he said, with gangs demanding money to allow safe passage through some areas.
"So if you want to go, if you want to pass this way, you have to pay," Pierre said.
Iphenia Molly has been in Columbus for about four years. She works and has TPS.
"We like our country," she said. "We like Haiti," and she misses living there.
Molly said she’d immediately return home to Haiti to her family and friends — if it were safe.
"I want to go to my country because in my country, I feel better. But there's too many problems with the government," she said.
Molly is trying to connect with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, better known as ABLE. They have a team of immigration lawyers statewide helping immigrants of any status navigate this rapidly changing landscape.
ABLE is lending its expertise to several community groups such as Springfield’s Haitian Support Center.
Support Center Executive Director Viles Dorsainvil said he and his team are reminding people of their rights. Some people are afraid and have questions, he said.
"We always advise them to walk with any papers that they have pertaining to the status that they have," Dorsainvil said. "If they encounter an (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officer on the street, they have the right to remain silent, not revealing the origin or the status or anything as such and the person can ask to speak to a lawyer."
Other advice includes:
- ICE must present a warrant signed by a judge before they can enter an immigrant’s home.
- Keep a copy of immigration papers in a safe place where someone else can get them if needed.
- Create a plan for property, businesses and vehicles, as well as a plan for any American born children. "A guardianship paper filled out and notarized, that they can give another person that paper to look after the kids in case they are being taken away from the kids," Dorsainvil said.
- ABLE has posted an information packet immigrants can download with important forms and checklists.
The Haitian Support Center is also distributing a red card stating immigrant rights. A person can give it to ICE officers if they’re too anxious in the moment to speak.
Dorsaninvi admits he is deeply saddened by the Trump administration’s decision to end TPS for Haiti. But he said the outpouring of support from non-Haitian residents has encouraged him. One such group is Springfield Neighbors United.
"We are largely rooted in the 'love our neighbor' commandment," said Rev. Marian Stewart, one of the group's founders.
Members are using their dollars to show support for Springfield's Haitian, she said.
"We’re also supporting their businesses and restaurants because they're also under stress. They're workers who are afraid their businesses dropped off because their communities are afraid to go out," Stewart said.
Roman Pierre said he and his wife want to stay in Springfield, but he won’t fight the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.
"I don't want to go back because right now I have a new life. I have some more opportunities in front of me. So I’m not afraid, I’m not scared. If he decided to send me back to my country, that's fine," Pierre said.
Miranda Hallett, a cultural anthropologist with the University of Dayton Human Rights Center, says this action is a good illustration of why TPS is an inadequate form of humanitarian protection.
“It leaves people in this condition of limbo and also uncertainty, where at any moment that status could be taken away or terminated at a specific date, and then they need to figure out what to do with their life,” she explained.
She warns mass deportations will have a far-reaching effect in our area and nationwide.
"By destabilizing communities, neighborhoods, workplaces that count on these folks, I think the impact of removing TPS for Haiti could have a really dramatic and profound impact on Southwest Ohio and especially on Springfield in a very negative way," Hallett said. "And it will extend to all those of us who are socially and economically entangled and interdependent with those individuals."
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