Haitian immigrants who have been living and working in Springfield, Ohio, for years, are voicing their concern about their future as President-elect Donald Trump gears up to take office.
Speaking to CBS news, Ketlie Moise, who has lived in the state since 2019 with Temporary Protected Status, said she had to flee her country after her mother was shot and her business burned down.
She managed to make a living in the city, which boasted a population of over 12,000 Haitian immigrants. However, the scenario changed abruptly after then presidential candidate Donald Trump echoed false claims about the group abducting and eating domestic pets.
Haitians began getting threats in businesses and schools, and Trump said his planned "largest deportation operation in American history" would start in the city. The situation has led many Haitians to leave the city, hoping they won't be targeted elsewhere.
Moise told the outlet that she has lost a substantial amount of clients over the past months, dropping from over 60 a day to about 25. Asked if she is considering leaving, she said: "I keep thinking about that. I don't know where but I keep thinking."
A worker at her restaurant said he is considering leaving the U.S. because of the possibility that he will be deported back to Haiti, where gangs control large swaths of territory, including 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Jacob Payen, a co-founder of the Haitian Community Alliance who runs a business that includes helping Haitians in Springfield to file tax returns, told the Guardian in November:
"People are fully aware of the election result, and that is why they are leaving; they are afraid of a mass deportation. Several of my customers have left. One guy with his family went to New Jersey; others have gone to Boston. I know three families that have gone to Canada."
Springfield's Haitian population has been central to the city's economic revival, according to The Guardian, taking jobs in packaging and manufacturing that were previously difficult to fill. Businesses owned and operated by Haitians have also contributed to the local economy.
However, Ohio Senator-elect Bernie Moreno has stood behind Trump, saying "Joe Biden and Kamala Harris corrupted TPS by allowing hundreds of thousands of migrants to claim legal status that should have never been able to come here in the first place, overwhelming small towns like Springfield throughout the country."
"It has to stop. My position has been clear from the start: I fully support President Trump's plans to end the abuse of TPS and deport illegal immigrants."
Meanwhile, Haitian authorities continue to struggle with ever-escalating violence, which has forced 50,000 people to flee their homes in the past two weeks alone. Haiti's children are at the heart of a worsening humanitarian crisis marked by hunger, displacement, and escalating violence that includes child soldiers, according to another report. Over 1.5 million children have lost access to education, and many face growing risks of exploitation, including recruitment into armed gangs, UNICEF reported during a U.N. special meeting.
Gang recruitment of minors has soared by 70% in the past year, with children now making between 30% and 50% of gang members, according to the U.N.'s leading child welfare agency, UNICEF. Reports of sexual violence against children have risen by 1,000%, further underscoring the dire situation.
The U.S. government, which is still carrying out deportation flights, has acknowledged Haiti's challenges. "The security conditions there remain incredibly fraught," said State Department official Tom Sullivan.
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