Donald Trump targeted Springfield, Ohio's Haitian community once again on Wednesday, vowing that those migrants currently in the city legally would be deported if he returns to office. In an interview with NewsNation, the former president said he would "absolutely" revoke Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and deport them. "You have to remove the people, and you have to bring them back to their own country," he said. "They are, in my opinion, it's not legal." Many of the Haitians in Springfield have TPS, while others came to the US under a Biden administration program that created legal pathways into the country for vetted people with US sponsors, CNN reports.
Officials believe there are up to 12,000 Haitians among the approximately 15,000 immigrants in Clark County, which includes Springfield. Trump told NewsNation that "about 30,000 people were put into that community rapidly." What's happening there is "horrible," he said. "You had a beautiful safe community. Everybody's in love with everybody ... it was like a picture[-perfect] community," he said. The influx of people, he said, "doesn't work." Last month, after Trump and running mate JD Vance spread debunked rumors about Haitians eating pets in Springfield, Ohio's Republican governor acknowledged that population growth had caused problems but said Haitians had been a "positive influence."
Gov. Mike DeWine said companies in Springfield that need workers are "very happy to have them there, and frankly, that's helped the economy." Asked by NewsNation what would happen if Haiti refused to accept migrants he had deported from the US, Trump said, "Well, they're going to receive them, they'll receive them. If I bring them back, they're going to receive them." Politico notes the citizens of 16 countries can currently request TPS in the US due to war or a natural disaster at home; as of March 31, there were 860,000 people with TPS living in the US. (More Donald Trump 2024 stories.)
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