6 minSociety
ICE Detentions of Haitians in Ohio More Than Double After Protected Status Ends
A new report from the Ohio Immigrant Alliance finds that ICE detained 74 Haitians in Springfield between August 7 and September 17, a 142.3 percent increase after Temporary Protected Status ended on July 27. Advocates say most detainees had no criminal records and were arrested during traffic stops or outside grocery stores and apartment complexes.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has sharply increased detentions of Haitian nationals in Ohio since the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for roughly 330,000 Haitians on July 27, according to a new report from the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. The report, based on publicly available rosters from four Ohio detention facilities, found that 74 Haitians were detained in Springfield between August 7 and September 17 — a 142.3 percent increase compared with the 26 booked from January 1 through July 26.
The four facilities examined were the Butler County Jail in Hamilton, the Mahoning County Justice Center in Youngstown, the Seneca County Jail in Tiffin, and the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio in Stryker. Two other ICE detention facilities in Ohio — the Geauga County Safety Center in Chardon and the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown — do not publish their rosters publicly and were not included in the report.
Between July 27 and August 31, at least 445 people were booked into the four facilities, including 239 Latin Americans and 62 Haitians. The Butler County Jail alone held 44 Haitian people during that period, even though its general housing capacity is 844 and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction recommends a capacity of 756. As of Friday morning, the jail held 1,078 people.
Advocates say the detentions are sweeping up people with deep ties to their communities and no criminal histories. Erik Crew, a staff attorney at Haitian Bridge Alliance, said he interviewed 15 Haitians detained by ICE and held at the Butler County Jail. «None had criminal records,» Crew said. «All entered the U.S. with its authorization, all had active and valid work authorization, and all had done everything the U.S. had asked.»
Springfield ICE Watch, which tracks enforcement activity in the city, said only 8 percent of the Haitians being detained in Springfield have had removal orders. The group described ICE tactics that include traffic stops in the middle of the road while people are on their way to or from work, as well as arrests in parking lots of apartment complexes with high immigrant populations, grocery stores, and gas stations.
About 15,000 Haitians live in Springfield, holding a mixture of temporary protected status, citizenship, and other legal statuses. The end of TPS followed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in late June that allowed President Donald Trump to terminate the program for Haitians who had fled violence in their home country.
The report also documents a shift in how ICE monitors Haitians in Springfield. Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Support Center, said ICE is beginning to use the smartphone app SmartLINK to track people and appears to be phasing out ankle monitors. Hundreds of Haitians in Springfield had been wearing ankle monitors, and many received letters requiring them to report to ICE offices in Blue Ash or Westerville after TPS ended.
«We don’t know what is going to happen, but what we’ve seen so far is the relief of the ankle monitors,» Dorsainvil said. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE evaluates those enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program on a «case-by-case basis to determine the appropriate level of supervision and technology.» The spokesperson said decisions about enrollment and electronic monitoring are made by career law enforcement officers after reviewing immigration status, criminal history, compliance history, and humanitarian or medical considerations, and that the technology «is not assigned based on nationality.»
The monitoring program has drawn scrutiny after the death of Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Wright State University student who died in an apparent suicide last month. His family said the death occurred after he was forced to wear an ankle monitor by ICE. Many advocates have called on the agency to stop using the devices.
Springfield Pastor Gilbert Joubert Adrien was recently released from the Butler County Jail after being detained by ICE in August. Dorsainvil said Adrien used his time in detention to minister to other people in jail. «He told us that he was a source of consolation for other detainees,» Dorsainvil said.
Enforcement activity continues in Springfield. Dorsainvil said a doctor recently told him that ICE picked up two people in his parking lot, and he described how a Haitian woman who went to an ICE check-in with her two-month-old baby was detained while the baby was handed to her driver. The driver, whom the woman did not know well, brought the infant back to the Haitian Support Center, where staff were able to locate the father.
The Ohio Immigrant Alliance report also found that more than 90 immigrant students from preschool to high school have missed school for weeks because of ICE’s presence and parents’ fears for their safety. «Some parents we know are keeping their children at home,» Dorsainvil said.
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