SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Thousands of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, received a last-minute extension of their work permits under Temporary Protected Status on Friday, hours before those permits were set to expire.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a federal immigration agency, announced the expiration date would be pushed back to July 24. The permits were originally set to expire Friday, with the move bringing a brief sigh of relief to an immigrant community at the center of a contentious national immigration debate for years.
The extension follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that makes way for President Trump to end Temporary Protected Status, known as TPS, for groups including Haitian immigrants. Federal courts are still working through the impacts of that decision.
WATCH: How supporters and opponents of TPS view the looming work permit expiration deadline in Springfield
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.
Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Immigrant Help and Support Center in Springfield, said the two-week window could be tied to the ongoing legal proceedings.
"Maybe they are waiting for the lower court to align with the decision of the Supreme Court, and maybe because of the judicial procedures or administrative conversation between the lower court and the Supreme Court," he said.
Springfield is home to roughly 15,000 Haitian immigrants, with thousands of them holding TPS work permits. Dorsainvil said the uncertainty surrounding the Supreme Court decision drove a surge of people seeking help at the center following the ruling.
"Folks are coming on a daily basis asking us questions because it is so uncertain and they are so confused as well," Dorsainvil said. "In a sense that we did not have that huge expectation that they would have been ruling in our favor, but at the same time too, we never thought that the ruling would have been that much extreme."
Dorsainvil 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."
Not everyone in Springfield shares that concern. Diana Daniels, a Springfield resident, said she supports ending TPS for Haitian immigrants.
"Well, guess what? There's a lot of Americans without jobs," Daniels said. "Go to any town up and down the Ohio River that was impacted by closing of the steel mills, closing of the auto industry, closing of the coal mines."
We spoke with several other Springfield residents on Friday who support the end of TPS, including Setys Kelly.
"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," Kelly said.
"They are people trying to better themselves, but they need to spend the time, money, and effort back at home, and making Haiti a better place," Terry Adkins, another resident, said.
The U.S. State Department has placed Haiti under its highest travel advisory due to civil unrest, violent crime and limited healthcare. Dorsainvil said conditions in some Haitian neighborhoods resemble scenes from "apocalyptic movies," with gang members displacing families and destroying private property.
"Yes, a father or mother can say, 'Okay, tomorrow let me go back home.' But to where? To live in the street in Port-au-Prince or wherever they come from," Dorsainvil said.
While lower courts mull over what's next, Dorsainvil said his center is advising community members to stay calm, explore options such as relocating to Canada if they have family there, and prepare legal documents in case of sudden detention.
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