Trump wins big against Haitian immigrants

Jun 26, 2026

SPRINGFIELD — President Donald Trump scored a big victory Thursday when the U.S. Supreme Court sided with his move to decertify Haitian immigrants and begin deporting families that have been living here, in some instances for two decades or more, being part of the community.

A fake AI image posted by state Rep. Gary Click of Vickery in January.

There are an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitian immigrants living in Springfield and the surrounding Clark County. In the broader central Ohio region, there are approximately 30,000 Haitians holding Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or other legal residency, according to the Ohio Capital Journal. TPS was started to protect Haitian and Syrian citizens from dying or being killed by extreme and oppressive governments and poverty.

Their legal status in now imperiled after the Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling set aside prior court rulings that prevented the Trump administration from ending the designations under the program, removing any restraints keeping Trump from restarting his plan to deport them, although the dire straits in their home countries have not changed.

“The Supreme Court’s decision means that many, many people are going to die violent, needless deaths,” Geoff Pipoly, one of the attorneys representing Haitian plaintiffs, said during a press conference immediately following the Supreme Court ruling.

Trump’s deportations will surely result in the deaths among the people who were formerly welcomed and encouraged to be part of the community, according to advocates. Trump intended to begin deportations in Springfield earlier this year but was derailed by the lower court rulings, and then the deaths of two American citizens at the hands of masked Border Patrol and ICE agents in Minneapolis. They were protesting ICE. The Trump administration lied about the circumstances of those deaths and has not brought charges against those responsible for the killings.

Trump. during the 2024 presidential campaign, also lied about Haitian immigrants in Clark County, claiming “in Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats.”