If and when the federal government revokes the legal status of hundreds of thousands of Haitians next week, state and local officials will have to wait and see whether immigration officers descend on Springfield.
By local estimates, around 15,000 immigrants from Haiti have been living in Springfield, a southwest Ohio city with a population of less than 60,000, according to census data.
In an interview Thursday with the Statehouse News Bureau, U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno said he wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) action to be unnecessary.
“Temporary Protected Status was going to end,” Moreno said. “It was never intended to be permanent. It was always temporary. Everybody always knew the date, so we shouldn’t have to surge a force in there, to forcibly deport people who knew for a long time that they have to do that on their own.”
Haitians in Springfield and other cities across the country are right now receiving short-term protections from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as the Caribbean island endures political violence and instability. Since the 2024 election cycle, President Donald Trump and Moreno have backed ending their protected status, or TPS.
As of July 2025, the U.S. Department of State heavily advised against traveling to Haiti.
When asked, Moreno said there isn’t evidence documenting mass voluntary self-deportations in Springfield.
“We don’t know that level of detail,” he said.
State, locals in limbo ahead of Feb. 3
Last Monday, Gov. Mike DeWine and other state leaders briefed Springfield City School District officials on related contingency and safety measures, according to an internal email Superintendent Robert Hill sent district staff last Tuesday.
“At this time, only limited verified information is available, and all decision-making authority remains entirely with the federal government,” Hill wrote over email.
But his internal email indicated enforcement could begin as soon as Wednesday, Feb. 4, and last at least one month.
A district spokesperson later said the email was not based on exact directives, writing it “was intended to describe the limits of available information and the general context discussed based on actions in cities across the nation.”
DeWine has been at odds with Trump and Moreno over Haitians living in Springfield for more than a year. He’s said deportations there would reverse positive economic progress in the city, and he’s called Haiti “horribly, horribly violent.”
“Things have not gotten better,” DeWine said in June. “They’ve actually gotten worse.”
Civil rights and labor organizations have sued over the end of TPS for Haitians and Venezuelans.
