Faith leaders and Haitian community members set out from Springfield City Plaza in Ohio at 7:30 a.m. today, Oct. 21, on a four-day, 40-mile march to the Ohio statehouse in Columbus, WHIO reported. They want the ankle-monitor program ended after the end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.
Some marchers will wear ankle monitors themselves, organizers told WHIO-TV. Their four demands: officially end the ankle-monitor program, get ICE out of Springfield, return detained Haitians, including pastors, to their families, and grant Permanent Protected Status to Haitian people.
A community worship service follows at 7 p.m. at Champion City Church on S Hubert Ave.
Supreme Court Ruling Stripped Haitians of Legal Status
TPS lets eligible people from designated countries live and work in the United States because of problems at home such as war or natural disaster, The Economic Times explained. The Trump administration announced in June 2025 that it would end the status for Haitians. The legal fight reached the Supreme Court, which ruled for the administration this summer, the, BBC reported.
After the ruling, James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, said: The T in TPS stands for TEMPORARY, yet many of these designations became de facto amnesty,
according to the BBC.
The administration has ended TPS for more than a million immigrants from 13 countries, the, BBC said. Many went from legal to unauthorised status overnight.
Family and ICE Differ Over Pierre Damas Bel’s Death
Pierre Damas Bel, 20, arrived in Springfield in 2024 to join his father and stepmother. On 31 August he parked on the side of a highway near Springfield, walked into oncoming traffic and was killed, the, BBC reported.
A family friend said Bel had TPS, was an honors student and was a cadet in a program preparing future officers for the armed forces, Ua summarised from the BBC. He was summoned to an ICE office and fitted with an ankle monitor. His family links his death to the distress the monitor caused. The BBC report includes the line: He did everything right to be here until they put the tag on him.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to the BBC’s questions about the case. Immigration authorities have rejected attempts to hold ICE responsible. The Economic Times added that the circumstances and causes of his death should not be reduced to a single explanation. The sources establish no cause beyond what the family and ICE each assert.
Filmmaker Steven Bognar was at the Haitian Support Center, working on a PBS Frontline documentary, when news of Bel’s death broke, he told WYSO.
Springfield Is Described Two Ways
At a rally in Youngstown, President Trump said Haitians from Springfield were being “taken out” and the town was being given back, per Ua’s account of the BBC report. The BBC and The Economic Times quote residents about getting their town back
. Trump had earlier made a false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield ate pets, the, BBC noted.
Rick Johnson, a Marine veteran who has lived in Springfield all his life, strongly supports the deportation drive, the, BBC reported. He also said the only neighbours he has are Haitians and they don’t really bother me
. Some residents, the BBC said, perceive that traffic accidents rose after the Haitian community arrived.
Shop owner Pashur Castelli said a lack of visitors means he can’t buy new merchandise, according to Ua.
Sources Give Three Counts of Haitians in Springfield
The sources disagree on the size of the community, and none says how many have left. The BBC estimates about 20,000 arrived within five years. WVXU, describing the Frontline report, puts residents at 10,000 to 15,000. ABC News cites 12,000 Haitian nationals.
Deportees Struggle to Find Work in Haiti
The administration says Haiti is safe enough for return. The State Department rates it Level 4, its highest danger rating, and advises against travel, Ua reported.
Whether Ohio lawmakers will answer the marchers, and what Springfield looks like once the deportations proceed, is not addressed in the sources.