Businesses in Springfield, Ohio, are closing and families are making contingency plans as the city's Haitian community grapples with the threat of immigration enforcement operations. The New Diaspora Live radio station, which moved into a new studio in September 2024, has been replaced by an Intuit TurboTax office, and its phone numbers are out of service. The Keket Bongou Caribbean restaurant, opened by Ketlie Moise in 2024, has also shut its doors. 'I think every Haitian business is closed now,' said Moise, who fled Haiti after her mother was killed.
Despite a judge blocking the Trump administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, fear of ICE raids persists. A school administrator initially reported a 30-day 'surge' of immigration enforcement starting this week, though the report was later walked back. Many Haitians have left Springfield for Mexico, Chile, and Brazil, but Moise said she knows no one who has returned to Haiti. 'I am not safe in my country,' she said.
Casey Rollins, executive director of St Vincent de Paul in Springfield, said she was not hearing of large numbers leaving despite the threat. 'People are afraid to move. They don't know where to go,' she said. Rollins highlighted nine children from two families who lost their parents to deportation in December, now under the care of extended family who themselves face deportation risks. An estimated 1,500 US-citizen children born to Haitian parents could be affected.
With TPS and humanitarian parole under threat, thousands of Haitians have applied for asylum. The demand for power of attorney documents has surged as families prepare for possible separation. About 10,000 to 15,000 Haitians remain in Springfield, many with TPS or asylum status, living in fear of an ICE operation that could trigger further unrest.
