BLUE ASH, Ohio — Hundreds of protesters headed to Blue Ash on Sunday to rally outside of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility as Haitians were called in for check-ins at the facility following the termination of their Temporary Protected Status, organizers Ignite Peace and the Miami Valley Immigration Coalition said.
On social media, the coalition said that more than 500 people lined the streets around the ICE facility, which is located at the corner of Kenwood Road and Malsbary Road.
Ignite Peace said on Facebook that the purpose of the protest was "to bear witness, raise awareness and show support for our Haitian neighbors who are being targeted."
The group also said that many Haitians residing in the Springfield area received letters ordering them to appear at the ICE office at 8 a.m. Sunday.
"This administration is trying to deport people en masse through quiet administrative procedures instead of neighborhood raids because they know how unpopular ICE is," the group said on social media.
The protest comes almost a week after Temporary Protected Status was terminated for Haitian immigrants by the Department of Homeland Security after a U.S. Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for President Donald Trump to end the program.
Congress created TPS more than three decades ago. It allows nationals from other countries in the midst of certain hardships to live and work legally in the U.S. when returning home would be unsafe.
Springfield is home to roughly 15,000 Haitian immigrants, with thousands of them holding TPS work permits.
Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Immigrant Help and Support Center in Springfield, said that losing TPS workers would have a broad economic impact in Springfield and beyond the city. About 330,000 Haitian immigrants hold TPS status across the U.S., according to the American Immigration Council.
"I think that it's going to be huge for the community because as Haitians, we've been working in every sector. We work at the school district, we work at the hospitals, we work everywhere," Dorsainvil said. "I think it's going to be a huge labor shortage for the manufacturing sectors here in the U.S.—not only in Springfield, but in the U.S. entirely."
We've previously spoken with several Springfield residents who disagree with Dorsainvil and support the end of TPS.
"There's a lot of people that would push back on (support for TPS ending), and probably the majority of them have never stepped foot in Clark County, let alone Springfield, Ohio," Setys Kelly told us.
Ignite Peace and the Miami Valley Immigrant Coalition plan to hold another protest outside of the ICE facility in Blue Ash on Sunday, Aug. 9
