The Trump administration has said that it is safe for immigrants to return to the Caribbean, as conditions in Haiti have improved sufficiently. Ohio Governor, Haitians disagree.
United Nations warns Haiti’s “severe human rights violations” illegal weapons
The UN has warned of “serious human rights violations” in Haiti and condemned the rise in violence against the flow of illegal weapons.
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Thousands of Haitian immigrants living in Ohio in temporary protected positions are planning to leave the country after the Trump administration announced the end of deportation protections. But they have not returned to their home country.
The Trump administration says that with Haiti’s conditions improved enough, it is safe for people living in the United States to return to the Caribbean. But returning to Haiti is a “death sentence,” community leaders and supporters say.
Instead, Haitians living in central Ohio are rushing to find a safe third country like Canada and Mexico, said Jean Manuel, a Haitian American businessman and advocate who supports some of the roughly 30,000 Haitians living in Columbus.
But that can be difficult too. To legally migrate to Canada, families must live there to receive them, and Vilés Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Community Help and Support Centre in Springfield, has between 150 million and 20,000 Haitian immigrants.
Haitians at TPS, which protect immigrants from deportation from certain countries and allow them to work legally in the United States, will lose their protection as of September 2nd, according to Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem.
In February, NOEM announced that it would end the Biden-era expansion of Haitian TPS, which expires in February 2026, and that its status would officially end on June 27th on August 3rd. This means that protection will end in September.
As of July 2024, more than 520,000 Haitians were eligible for TPS, according to Homeland Security.
Homeland Security said it has reviewed Haiti’s terms and determined it has not met the requirements for the TPS designation. According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), TPS is designated as a country involved in ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, epidemics and other exceptional and temporary conditions.
A DPS spokesperson said the decision to terminate Haitians’ TPS was intended to ensure that the situation for immigration remains temporary.
The TPS system has been “abuse and abused” for decades, according to a February release from the Department of Homeland Security to end the Biden administration’s TPS extension.
But Haiti remains unstable, Columbus’ Manuel said he disputed the government’s claim that conditions had improved.
“Every neighborhood has gangs, and every area is controlled by gang members. They are vicious. They burn buildings, kill children, clean the neighborhood,” he said. “It’s the kind of life they go to (if they return to Haiti). They’ll be sentenced to death.”
Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recently agreed.
“Haiti is not safe…it’s one of the most dangerous places in the world,” DeWine told the State News Bureau. “It’s the scary, terrifyingly violent place today, things aren’t getting better. They’re actually getting worse. They’re just facts.”
Ohio is home to thousands of Haitian immigrants.
Springfield’s Haiti population attracted national attention during the 2024 presidential election when Vice President J.D. Vance spread false rumors that he had eaten a neighbor’s pet during the debate.
Community leaders say that thousands of Haitian immigrants in the city have moved to cities of around 60,000 in recent years, with legal status (probably TPS) here.
Rumors have been followed by repeated efforts by others, including Trump, Springfield schools, businesses and public buildings, facing bomb threats and evacuation.
DeWine also defended the Haitians after Vance’s comments.
“They came to Springfield for work,” the governor said at the time. “Ohio is on the move and Springfield has made a huge comeback with so many businesses coming.”
On June 28, DeWine was reportedly reportedly important to Haitians in Springfield’s workforce.
“We talked to managers of those companies and basically, without these Haitians, we can’t fill these slots and produce what we need to produce,” he said.
Manuel agreed that Haitians in Ohio usually work in hotels, factories and supermarkets.
“They are people who put in effort.”
Employers have fired Haitian employees since the announcement in February that TPS will not stay for Haitians for a long time, Manuel and Dothanville said they know they won’t be long. So, in addition to the intense fear of their future, some Haitians with TPs don’t have the money to support their families and pay rent, Manuel said.
“The people here, they’re here to work here and improve their lives,” Manuel said. They are not criminals, they just want a peaceful place where they raise and live their families, he and Dothanville said.
Why Haitians have TPs
The 2010 earthquake – which killed more than 220,000 Haitians and destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure – has urged the federal government to qualify for TPS.
Since then, the country has experienced a “cascade crisis,” according to the Haiti Bridge Alliance., A non-profit organization that advocates immigration rights.
The Biden administration updated and expanded Haitian TP in July 2024, saying gang activity is causing economic, security, political and health crises.
These terms have not changed, Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haiti Bridge Alliance, said in a statement.
The country is also suffering from hunger, homelessness and employment shortages in its residents, according to its supporters and the United Nations.
Haiti has not had a president since the former was assassinated in 2021. The country’s prime minister resigned in 2024.
The decision to end the TPS “is not just cruel. It’s a risk of national approval,” Joseph said.
“Sending hundreds of thousands of people back to a country that is overrun by hospitals closed and food-strapped gangs is a direct attack on the black immigrant community,” she continued. “It’s not about policy, it’s about dehumanization.”
Unserved community reporter Danae King can be contacted via X at dking @dispatch.com or @danaeking.
