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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — In a display of profound unity and support, two dozen faith leaders, alongside an audience numbering in the hundreds, gathered in a packed church on Monday. The congregation, united in song and prayer, stood in solidarity with Haitian migrants, many of whom are anxious about the potential termination of their protected status in the United States.
The event took place at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield and drew religious leaders from across the United States. Their collective voice called for the extension of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that has enabled thousands of Haitian migrants to settle legally in Springfield, escaping the turmoil and violence rampant in Haiti. With TPS for Haiti set to expire on Tuesday, those gathered were hopeful that a federal judge might step in to provide a reprieve.
Guerline Jozef, the executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, addressed the congregation, expressing her faith in the American legal system to deliver justice. “We believe in the legal system of this country of ours,” she affirmed passionately. “We believe that through the legal ways, the judge hopefully will rule in favor of current TPS holders today that will allow them to stay while we continue to fight.”
Jozef’s message resonated deeply with those present, as she emphasized the urgency of their cause: “We have been called for such a time as this to protect those who have nowhere else to go. They cannot go back to Haiti,” she stressed.
The overwhelming turnout at the church event was a testament to the community’s commitment, though it led to the fire marshal requesting 150 attendees to leave due to the building exceeding its 700-person capacity.
Hundreds joined a choir clapping and singing: “You got to put one foot in front of the other and lead with love.”
They also observed a moment of silence for people who have died in federal immigration detention and for Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were shot and killed by federal officers in Minneapolis. Some of the speakers evoked biblical passages while appealing for empathic treatment of migrants.
Federal immigration crackdown and TPS
The Department of Homeland Security announced last June that it would terminate TPS for about 500,000 Haitians who were already in the U.S., including some who had lived in the country for more than a decade. DHS said conditions in the island nation had improved enough to allow their safe return.
“It was never intended to be a de facto asylum program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades. The Trump administration is restoring integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, noting there were no new enforcement operations to announce.
A federal judge in Washington is expected to rule any day on a request to pause the TPS termination for Haitians while a lawsuit challenging it proceeds.
TPS allows people already in the U.S. to stay and work legally if their homelands are deemed unsafe. Immigrants from 17 countries, including Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan and Lebanon, had the protective status before President Donald Trump’s second term started.
The uncertainty over TPS has deepened worries for an already embattled Haitian community in Springfield.
Trump denigrated the community while campaigning in 2024 for a second term, falsely accusing its members of eating their neighbor’s cats and dogs as he pitched voters on his plans for an immigration crackdown. The false claims exacerbated fears about division and anti-immigrant sentiment in the mostly white, working class city of about 59,000 people.
In the weeks after his comments, schools, government buildings and the homes of elected officials received bomb threats.
Since then, the Springfield’s Haitians have lived in constant fear that has only been exacerbated by the federal immigration crackdowns happening in Minneapolis and other cities, said Viles Dorsainvil, leader of Springfield’s Haitian Community Help and Support Center.
“As we are getting close to the end of the TPS, it has intensified the fear, the anxiety, the panic,” Dorsainvil said.
Sunday church service
Some of Springfield’s estimated 15,000 Haitians also sought comfort and divine intervention in their churches on Sunday.
At the First Haitian Evangelical Church of Springfield, its pastor estimated that half of the congregants who regularly attend Sunday service stayed home.
“They don’t know the future; they are very scared,” said the Rev. Reginald Silencieux.
Flanked by the flags of Haiti and the United States, he advised his congregation to stay home as much as possible in case of immigration raids. He also offered a prayer for Trump and the Haitian community and reminded congregants to keep their faith in God.
“The president is our president. He can take decisions. But he is limited,” he said. “God is unlimited.”
After the service, Jerome Bazard, a member of the church, said ending TPS for Haitians would wreak havoc on his community.
“They can’t go to Haiti because it’s not safe. Without the TPS, they can’t work. And if they can’t work, they can eat, they can’t pay bills. You’re killing the people,” he said.
Many of the children in the Springfield Haitian community are U.S. citizens who have parents in the country illegally. If they are detained, Dorsainvil said some parents have signed caregiver affidavits that designate a legal guardian in hopes of keeping their kids out of foster care.
“They’re not sending their kids to school,” he said.
Volunteers from nearby towns and from out of state have been calling the Haitian community center offering to deliver food for those afraid to leave home, Dorsainvil said. Others have been stockpiling groceries in case immigration officers do flood the community.
Some, he said, have been receiving desperate calls from family members abroad asking them to leave. “They keep telling them that Springfield is not a safe place now for them to stay.”
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