Springfield, Ohio: a city transformed by Haitian migrants is changing again amid Trump's deportations

The key facts

In summer 2026 the Supreme Court upheld the termination of TPS for ~350,000 Haitians; in total TPS has been ended for more than a million migrants from 13 countries
20-year-old Pierre Damas Bel died on August 31 after being fitted with an ankle monitor; the family linked the death to the tag, ICE rejects blame
At a rally in Youngstown, Trump said that 'about 35,000 Haitians' had 'nearly left' and that the city was 'returning to its people'

A city that is a symbol of two Americas

Springfield in southwestern Ohio found itself in the spotlight in 2024, when Trump repeated the false claim that Haitian migrants were eating pets. For the president, the city embodies the problems caused by uncontrolled immigration; for others, it is a typical cycle of American history: the decline of traditional industry, followed by an influx of migrants drawn by cheap housing and low-paid labor. Ohio has become a swing state in the midterm congressional elections, where one of the two Republican Senate seats is at stake. Trump visited the state twice, trying to boost turnout amid declining approval ratings.

The story of Pierre Damas Bel

20-year-old Pierre Damas Bel arrived in Springfield in 2024 to join his father and stepmother, having fled Haiti, which was gripped by political instability and gang warfare. He entered the US legally under the now-abolished Biden-era program for migrants who had been waiting in Mexico, and then, according to a family friend, received temporary TPS protection. Bel was an honor student, a talented athlete, and a cadet in the school's officer training program. In June, the Supreme Court upheld the administration's decision to terminate TPS for approximately 350,000 Haitians. Bel was directed to an ICE office, where he was fitted with an ankle monitor. On Instagram he wrote about 'shame and humiliation.' On August 31, he parked his car by a highway near Springfield, stepped into oncoming traffic, and died. The family linked the death to the requirement to wear the tag. DHS did not respond to BBC questions, and ICE earlier rejected 'any attempts to assign blame for the death to ICE.' A spokesperson for the agency told the media: 'Staying in the country illegally while contesting removal is a choice. Leaving on a free flight home with $2,600 is also a choice.' Viles Dorsainvil, a co-founder of a Haitian support center, said Bel twice went to ICE offices 'begging to have the monitor removed' and was preparing a motion for its removal.

Mass termination of TPS

In total, more than a million migrants from 13 countries lost TPS under the Trump administration's decision, instantly turning from legal into illegal migrants. The administration announced the termination of TPS for Haitians in June 2025, after which the case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in its favor in the summer. DHS legal counsel James Percival said after the verdict: 'The T in TPS stands for temporary, yet many statuses have turned into de facto amnesty. This is a victory for the rule of law and common sense.' In August, DHS released a video of Haitians in shackles and white uniforms being led onto a deportation flight, with a call to those who had lost their status to 'LEAVE IMMEDIATELY.' The administration claims it is conducting safety-maintaining operations and that Haiti is safe enough to return to — even though the State Department has assigned the country the highest danger level, 'Do Not Travel.' Polls show that border policy retains strong support among Republicans, but support for immigration enforcement methods has declined this year.

Life in the city after the influx of migrants

Signs of decades of economic decline — closed factories and boarded-up houses — are still visible in Springfield. Over the past five years, about 20,000 Haitians have arrived in the city: many fled the devastating 2010 earthquake, others after the 2021 unrest that followed the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. With TPS status, many worked low-paid jobs in factories and warehouses. Rick Johnson, a Marine Corps veteran who has lived in Springfield all his life, supports the deportations: 'We love America, we love Americans — any Americans, but, so to speak, you need to be an American.' He noted that his Haitian neighbors 'don't bother' him, but their numbers and 'driving problems' concern him. In 2023, 11-year-old Aiden Clark died when a school bus overturned in a collision with a minivan; the driver, Haitian Herman Joseph, did not have a valid US driver's license and was imprisoned. The boy's father, Nathan Clark, later spoke at a city commission meeting, condemning politicians for using his son's death as a 'political tool' to stoke anti-immigrant sentiment, emphasizing that his son died accidentally.

An empty store and fear of raids

In the grocery store of Pashour Castelly, who left Haiti 20 years ago, most of the shelves are empty except for religious candles and images of Catholic saints. 'I can't stock new goods because no customers come to me,' he said, adding that the community includes doctors and engineers who came for a better life and to help relatives, because 'our country does not give us safety.' One of the few customers, a former warehouse worker, showed an ankle monitor: 'I was given a choice — wear the monitor and check in every two weeks, or sign a deportation order.' ICE calls such bracelets part of the 'Alternatives to Detention' program. As reporters left the store, which Castelly now keeps locked, a neighbor, frightened by an ICE raid, shouted across the street to ask if he was all right.