ICE begins detaining Haitians in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement has begun targeting and detaining Haitians in Springfield, Ohio after President Donald Trump revoked their legal status, with at least 29 detained as of Friday last week. Theresa Hice-Fromille, a board member of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center in Springfield, confirmed that 29 Haitian people had been detained by ICE as of Friday. Haitian Support Center Executive Director Viles Dorsainvil issued a statement on the increased ICE activity in the city. "Behind every number is a human being," Dorsainvil said. "Behind every detention is a family. Behind every deportation is a mother, a father, a husband, a wife, a child, a friend, a church member, a coworker, or a neighbor whose life may be changed forever." This is happening after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled at the end of June that President Donald Trump could end temporary protected status for the 330,000 Haitians who've fled the violence in their home country. Legal protected status officially ended for Haitians on July 27. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue acknowledged immigration enforcement now happening in the city. "The City is aware of federal immigration enforcement activity occurring in Springfield, including arrests made by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement," Rue said in a statement. About 15,000 Haitians live in Springfield, with a mixture of temporary protected status, citizenship and other legal status. "ICE has also indicated that targeted enforcement activity will continue throughout Ohio," Rue said. "The City does not direct or control ICE enforcement activity. We are focused on the safety and well-being of everyone in our community." ICE agents are detaining people in Springfield in shopping plazas and apartment complexes, Hice-Fromille said. A recent video circulating online shows ICE officers detaining people at a Springfield car wash. "We had somebody asking this morning if it was safe for her to run out to Walmart and get food," Hice-Fromille said. Springfield Pastor Gilbert Joubert Adrien and another Haitian man were detained by ICE Thursday morning at a gas station. "It's caused a flurry of concern," Hice-Fromill said. "He has a wife and children, and they're all extremely scared." "Pastor Joubert Adrien left Haiti because his life was in danger, served Christ and his congregation faithfully and his arrest shows how far ICE will stoop to incite panic among people who came here peacefully, came here legally and offered nothing but good to our community," Carl Ruby, pastor of Springfield's Central Christian Church, said in a statement. Haitians in Springfield who are detained by ICE are being sent to Butler County Jail in Hamilton, which had 1,105 people as of Friday morning. The general housing capacity for Butler County Jail is 844, even though the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction recommends 756 as the housing capacity, according to a 2025 ODRC inspection report. There are six Ohio detention facilities that contract with ICE to hold people who have been detained: Butler County Jail in Hamilton, the Seneca County Jail in Tiffin, the Geauga County Safety Center in Chardon, the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio in Stryker, the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, and the Mahoning County Justice Center in Youngstown. "This becomes an economic driver for these local communities and these jails because they get paid by the feds," said Richard Herman, a Cleveland-based immigration lawyer. "The goal of the policy is to inflict maximum pain, on the immigrant and people that love them and employ them, and inflict pain and try to crank up the numbers for deportations. … The system is trying to encourage them to sign the deportation order yourself." Haitians living in Springfield are being required to report to ICE offices in Blue Ash or Westerville and wear ankle monitors. "There's a lot of anxiety over what the ankle monitors could be leading to," Hice-Fromille said. "When (the ankle monitors) started happening, people really started retreating and isolating." It's unclear if Haitians with ankle monitors are being detained by ICE, she said. "I don't have any information that people with ankle monitors have been detained," Hice-Fromille said. "What we did see last week was somebody being detained off of the street, given an ankle monitor, and released." Hice-Fromille is hearing that Haitians who previously lived in Springfield but have since moved away are also being asked to wear ankle monitors. "We've even had people who had to come in out of state because they no longer live in Ohio, but they had lived in Springfield at some point," she said. The U.S. Department of State currently has a Level 4 "Do Not Travel" advisory for Haiti "due to the risk of crime, kidnapping, terrorism, unrest, and limited health care," according to the state department. A top security official and chief of staff to the nation's defense minister was kidnapped in June. For more Ohio news, visit OhioCapitalJournal.com. Follow Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.