United States Supreme Court, pictured: April 9, 2026 (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
The future of Haitians living in Ohio with temporary protected status hangs in the balance from a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could come as soon as this week or next.
About 330,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians live in the United States with Temporary protected status (TPS) – A program that gives residents of certain countries affected by conflict or natural disasters the opportunity to live and work in the United States for a specified period of time.
About 30,000 Haitians with temporary status live in central Ohio and the British Isles an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians call Springfield home while having Temporary Protected Status, citizenship, and other legal status.
Springfield has become a flashpoint in the 2024 elections when Donald Trump and JD Vance spread racist lies there about Haitian immigrants.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide by tardy June or early July whether the Trump administration can end the war Temporary protected status program for citizens of Haiti and Syria.
Oral arguments in this case were filed in April.
“If (TPS is) terminated, they will essentially immediately lose their work authorization in most states, their access to their driver’s license, and then also their protection from deportation, and they may be subject to removal proceedings and deportation,” said Emily Brown, director of the law school at The Ohio State University Immigration Clinic.
Attorneys for Haitian TPS holders filed a complaint movement this week asked the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss the case, stating that modern evidence has come to delicate showing that the Trump administration unlawfully tried to invalidate TPS, claims Springfield News – Sunday.
“This new evidence raises deep concerns about the integrity of a process that has put our Haitian neighbors at risk,” he said. Carl Ruby, pastor of Central Christian Church in Springfield.
Haitians were initially granted temporary protected status after the 2010 Haiti earthquake that killed 222,570 people.
The Biden administration extended Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in 2021 following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
Syria was first granted TPS in 2012 and the country continues to experience ongoing armed conflict, terrorist violence, kidnappings, hostage-taking and crime.
Haiti is currently plagued by gang violence and instability, and many are fleeing the petite Caribbean nation for the United States for their lives. Just last week. top security official and chief of staff to the Minister of National Defense he was kidnapped.
Many Haitian refugees in America have no homes in Haiti to return to and fear for the safety of their families if they are forced to return.
“If TPS leaves, I don’t think most of them will want to just get back on a plane and go to Haiti because the violence there is so severe that they think anything will be better than going back there,” Brown said.
The U.S. Department of State currently has a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory. Haiti AND Syria.
“They’re definitely scared,” Ruby said.
Haitians can apply for asylum, but the Trump administration has indefinitely frozen processing of all asylum applications until the end of 2025.
“It’s not an option for most people,” Brown said.
Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, came to the United States from Haiti in 2020.
“No matter what happens, I will be the last person to go because so many people in this community rely on me from both sides – the Haitian American community,” said Dorsainvil, who is also a master’s student at Wright State University.
In his opinion, the US Supreme Court’s ruling will go in one of three directions.
Judges could rule in favor of TPS holders, but he said that could still have consequences.
“The Trump administration could develop new policies that would continue to make life miserable for immigrants so that they can leave or self-deport,” Dorsainvil said.
A decision may be made that will give the Trump administration a certain number of months to end TPS, he added.
“There will be some disruption in the community during this period and people will still be in limbo,” Dorsainvil said.
If the Supreme Court rules against TPS holders, “there will be some type of humanitarian crisis in the community,” he said.
“Schools will be disrupted, manufacturers will be disrupted and it will impact the entire economy of Springfield,” Dorsainvil said.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue “is not making any statements or interviews regarding this matter at this time,” a mayoral spokesman said in an email response to the Capital Journal.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Springfield native, has spoken several times about how Haitians facilitate Springfield’s economy.
“I’ve been pretty clear on policy regarding what I think is best for Ohio and best for Springfield and those people who work and help the Springfield economy grow and do the things that we like people to do, which is their job,” DeWine said this week.
The DeWines helped support the Becky DeWine School in Haiti, named after their tardy daughter, but the school had to close due to gang activity in 2024.
Springfield’s population has been failing for decades as manufacturing jobs have disappeared, but Haitian immigrants have added more than 10,000 workers to Clark County’s workforce.
Deportation of Haitians in Springfield would eliminate approximately $300 million in Clark County annual expenses, with estimated economic losses exceeding $400 million.
Brown said the Haitians have made arrangements for power of attorney and custody of their children in the event that TPS expires.
“If TPS does end, everyone expects ICE to do huge raids in Columbus, Springfield and other parts of the country where there are large groups of Haitians, so you could really see this kind of mass policing… People are really afraid of this and know it could happen at any time,” she said.
Ruby said he expected targeted raids from the site U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities in Springfield and other cities with vast Haitian populations if the Supreme Court rules against TPS holders.
“I think (the Trump administration) will rely more on unemployment and trying to get people to self-deport,” Ruby said.
“We believe the more likely scenario is a humanitarian crisis in which people are simply left unemployed and unable to pay rent or buy food.”
To prepare for that possibility, nonprofit agencies in Springfield try to anticipate the need for rent and food, Ruby said.
“We are trying to equip churches to be ready to respond, we are asking churches to provide shelter,” he said.
He said they discourage people from going to immigration on their own.
The TPS program for Haitians was scheduled to expire on February 3, but U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians living in the United States.
The Trump administration quickly appealed the decision, and lower courts blocked its efforts to end TPS in Haiti.
“People were very afraid before February 3, and I think it’s the same now, but it’s even worse because we can’t immediately rely on the Supreme Court to do the right thing,” Brown said.
At the federal level, the U.S. House of Representatives voted for an extension in April TPS for Haitians until 2029. The bill is currently in the US Senate, but The White House, announced President Donald Trump he would veto the bill.
The Trump administration has revoked TPS status from 13 countries – Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.
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