SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Donald Trump's pick to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently cast doubt on the future of a federal government program that would impact thousands of immigrants in the Tri-State — specifically in the city of Springfield, Ohio.
Tom Homan said last week the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program "could end tomorrow." There are about 15,000 Haitian immigrants living in Springfield under TPS — many of whom are now concerned about their status living in the United States.
"It would be good for the government to join us and we can work together," said Viles Dorainvil, Haitian Community Help & Support Center.
Dorainvil is one of the thousands living in Springfield under the TPS program.
"They are here because not only are they looking for a safe place (but) also a place where they can get employment," Dorainvil said.
Springfield received national attention because of unfounded claims of Haitian immigrants eating pets, which also led to threats against the Haitian community. We asked Dorainvil if his community felt safe.
"They do feel safe, there is some kind of threats yes, whether it's verbal or by text messages," Dorainvil said.
On Friday, Nov. 15, Homan was interviewed on the Cleveland-based conservative radio talk show "Strictly Speaking with Bob Frantz." When asked about the TPS program and the Haitian community living in Springfield, Frantz asked him if the thousands would be protected, or would automatically be eligible for deportation.
"Temporary status is at the approval of the Secretary of Homeland Security, that could end tomorrow," said Homan. "If TPS ends, they are going to be removable. If they have an asylum case pending that could make it more difficult, or be more timely, but TPS is at the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security. People need to understand Temporary Protective Status is never temporary, because we need a strong leadership in the White House, and in the departments and temporary means temporary, whatever reason you guys got protective status ... for a hurricane in your homeland or maybe at war in your homeland, but as soon as that situation clears up, you need to go home and we need to be so hard on that — temporary means temporary."
We read those comments back to Dorsainvil and asked him about how the community is feeling about their status.
"I think they are having that kind of fear," Dorsainvil said.
However, he stressed that while some may be planning on leaving Springfield, he feels they will not be leaving the city in masses. On Wednesday, he showed us around the new Haitian Community Help and Support Center. It's an old firehouse the nonprofit purchased from the city this year. The organization outgrew its old space and wanted to be able to help its growing community of Haitians.
Dorothy and Robert Fyffe stopped by the new center to donate some winter clothes for the organization, and they shared their thoughts about Homan's comments.
"These people are working and paying so I don't think it's a winning strategy for anyone," Dorothy Fyffe said.
"It's absolutely no thought of the consequences to both the Haitian community and the local community who do support them and who rely on them for so much at this time," Robert Fyffe said.
"There's a lot of businesses that have popped up because there's a lot of migrants who are arrived in the community around the last four years," Lindsey Aime with the Haitian Community Help and Support Center said.
Aimee is also here under the TPS program and looks at the situation from a dollar and cents perspective.
"It's 20,000 customers who have to eat every day, to drink every day, you know, we contribute," Aimee said.
He did say he would be ready to go if he's forced to leave.
"For myself, I'm not scared of anything ... that happens," said Aimee.
We reached out to the City of Springfield several times for comment, but we never heard back. We also reached out to Governor Mike DeWine's office for comment, but a spokesperson told WCPO 9 News they had no comments at this time.
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