During the campaign, Trump used Springfield as a case study. Immigrants in the area are preparing for severe outcomes.
Local advocates express concerns about imminent mass deportations, fearing that Springfield may be targeted as a precedent. “They’re afraid the mass deportations are going to start in Springfield,” said one local advocate. “They think they’re going to make Springfield the example.”
TroibNews 
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Donald Trump’s unfounded assertion during the presidential campaign that Haitian migrants were consuming residents’ pets and “destroying their way of life" sent shockwaves through this central Ohio city.
After Trump's victory, as a snowy January storm swept through Springfield's quiet streets, the remaining Haitians were bracing for uncertainty.
“They’re afraid the mass deportations are going to start in Springfield,” stated Marjorie Koveleski, a Haitian-American resident of Springfield for 20 years, who affectionately refers to herself as “mama” or “auntie” to the new arrivals. “They think they’re going to make Springfield the example.”
Across the U.S., immigration organizations are preparing for the “mass deportations” Trump promised he would initiate on his first day in office. They anticipate that he will convey a decisive message aimed at sealing the border, leaving undocumented immigrants living in the country vulnerable to removal. Just hours after taking the oath of office on Monday, Trump enacted an array of sweeping executive orders reinstating the stringent immigration policies of his previous term—enhancing them further and fulfilling his campaign promises to amplify nationwide deportations and eliminate birthright citizenship.
The White House press office did not respond to requests for comment.
In the lead-up to Inauguration Day, immigration advocates nationwide positioned themselves for potential rapid policy changes, assuming that he would quickly implement significant measures, potentially including travel bans, rigorous vetting processes, and his campaign commitment to executing the “largest mass deportation operation” in U.S. history.
“The administration is looking for some big splash right away — that's what they campaigned on, and [they want] to show that they are making good on campaign promises,” said Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, a center-right immigration advocacy organization, in a recent interview.
The impact of these developments on Springfield's migrants remains uncertain. Approximately 15,000 Haitian migrants have settled in the area in recent years under a program that offers temporary protected status to individuals from countries deemed especially dangerous, Haiti included. In a New York Times op-ed from September, Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine underscored, “They are there legally. They are there to work”—highlighting their contributions to a “resurgence in manufacturing and job creation” in a town that has seen economic stagnation since the 1980s.
Following Trump’s elevation of the unfounded assertion that Haitians were “eating the pets” during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, many of the local Haitians have adopted a more low-profile existence. Brandon Sipes, a humanitarian crisis adviser for Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, observed that attendance at his local church among Haitians has dropped significantly from about 20 to 30 attendees each week. Following Trump’s comments and the subsequent fallout, “that number just bottomed out,” he said.
“The few families that would come to church, they were very afraid,” added Sipes.
Local advocates report that some migrants have relocated to larger cities such as Dayton, Columbus, and Chicago, where they feel they can blend in more easily. Koveleski explained she has acted as a “travel agent” for some Haitians, assisting with arrangements to move elsewhere in the U.S. or obtain visas for other countries.
“This was very hard mentally, because at some points in time, people were afraid to come out or to go for groceries, to go shopping or anything,” said Viles Dorsainvil, director of the local Haitian Community Help & Support Center. “That rhetoric was so negative that some folks in town left because they could not put up with all that pressure.”
Dorsainvil emphasized, however, that it hasn’t led to a “mass exodus.” Although precise statistics are lacking, thousands of Haitian migrants likely still reside in Springfield, and the center is getting them ready for Trump’s presidency.
“All that I do in the organization is to get folks ready for anything that might happen, for them to know what to do, to know their rights, and to have a plan,” Dorsainvil explained.
This preparation includes legal training on how to respond if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents visit their home. Koveleski advises community members to carry their immigration documents at all times and maintain digital copies “in case the ICE agents rip them” and to have contingency plans for potential parental separation from their children.
“I think during the first round, we were all so shell shocked, like, ‘This must be just an anomaly, a mistake, what is going on? This isn't the values of our country,’” reflected Angie Plummer, who leads Community Refugee & Immigration Services, a nonprofit dedicated to resettling and supporting refugees and immigrants in Central Ohio. “But this time, I think, we’re more realistic about it. We have plans in place.”
Plummer noted that one initiative includes efforts to “receive as many people as possible before the inauguration," cautioning that “resettlement numbers may go to zero” once Trump takes office.
Nearby, as a health aide helped Roda Yaqub into the arrivals area at John Glenn Columbus International Airport, 24-year-old Deqa Alihashi rushed to greet her sister, whom she had never met.
Alihashi had relocated to Ohio from Somalia with her family in 2013 and immediately filed an application for Yaqub, 28, to join them. The process took over a decade—11 years of paperwork, security vetting, medical assessments, and above all, waiting.
“Today is the day that she's finally here,” Alihashi expressed. “I’m really so excited to reconnect with my big sister I’ve never seen before, hug her, make her feel like she’s welcome here.”
Behind her, about a dozen others waited to reunite with family members, holding flowers and flags beneath an airport sign that read “live to create opportunity.”
It was a moment underscored by a feeling of timely arrival.
“She beat before he got to the [White] House,” remarked Fadumo Abdi, a friend of Alihashi who was there to support her. Alihashi nodded in agreement, attributing it all to “God’s plan.”
Emily Johnson for TROIB News
After Trump's victory, as a snowy January storm swept through Springfield's quiet streets, the remaining Haitians were bracing for uncertainty.
“They’re afraid the mass deportations are going to start in Springfield,” stated Marjorie Koveleski, a Haitian-American resident of Springfield for 20 years, who affectionately refers to herself as “mama” or “auntie” to the new arrivals. “They think they’re going to make Springfield the example.”
Across the U.S., immigration organizations are preparing for the “mass deportations” Trump promised he would initiate on his first day in office. They anticipate that he will convey a decisive message aimed at sealing the border, leaving undocumented immigrants living in the country vulnerable to removal. Just hours after taking the oath of office on Monday, Trump enacted an array of sweeping executive orders reinstating the stringent immigration policies of his previous term—enhancing them further and fulfilling his campaign promises to amplify nationwide deportations and eliminate birthright citizenship.
The White House press office did not respond to requests for comment.
In the lead-up to Inauguration Day, immigration advocates nationwide positioned themselves for potential rapid policy changes, assuming that he would quickly implement significant measures, potentially including travel bans, rigorous vetting processes, and his campaign commitment to executing the “largest mass deportation operation” in U.S. history.
“The administration is looking for some big splash right away — that's what they campaigned on, and [they want] to show that they are making good on campaign promises,” said Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, a center-right immigration advocacy organization, in a recent interview.
The impact of these developments on Springfield's migrants remains uncertain. Approximately 15,000 Haitian migrants have settled in the area in recent years under a program that offers temporary protected status to individuals from countries deemed especially dangerous, Haiti included. In a New York Times op-ed from September, Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine underscored, “They are there legally. They are there to work”—highlighting their contributions to a “resurgence in manufacturing and job creation” in a town that has seen economic stagnation since the 1980s.
Following Trump’s elevation of the unfounded assertion that Haitians were “eating the pets” during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, many of the local Haitians have adopted a more low-profile existence. Brandon Sipes, a humanitarian crisis adviser for Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, observed that attendance at his local church among Haitians has dropped significantly from about 20 to 30 attendees each week. Following Trump’s comments and the subsequent fallout, “that number just bottomed out,” he said.
“The few families that would come to church, they were very afraid,” added Sipes.
Local advocates report that some migrants have relocated to larger cities such as Dayton, Columbus, and Chicago, where they feel they can blend in more easily. Koveleski explained she has acted as a “travel agent” for some Haitians, assisting with arrangements to move elsewhere in the U.S. or obtain visas for other countries.
“This was very hard mentally, because at some points in time, people were afraid to come out or to go for groceries, to go shopping or anything,” said Viles Dorsainvil, director of the local Haitian Community Help & Support Center. “That rhetoric was so negative that some folks in town left because they could not put up with all that pressure.”
Dorsainvil emphasized, however, that it hasn’t led to a “mass exodus.” Although precise statistics are lacking, thousands of Haitian migrants likely still reside in Springfield, and the center is getting them ready for Trump’s presidency.
“All that I do in the organization is to get folks ready for anything that might happen, for them to know what to do, to know their rights, and to have a plan,” Dorsainvil explained.
This preparation includes legal training on how to respond if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents visit their home. Koveleski advises community members to carry their immigration documents at all times and maintain digital copies “in case the ICE agents rip them” and to have contingency plans for potential parental separation from their children.
“I think during the first round, we were all so shell shocked, like, ‘This must be just an anomaly, a mistake, what is going on? This isn't the values of our country,’” reflected Angie Plummer, who leads Community Refugee & Immigration Services, a nonprofit dedicated to resettling and supporting refugees and immigrants in Central Ohio. “But this time, I think, we’re more realistic about it. We have plans in place.”
Plummer noted that one initiative includes efforts to “receive as many people as possible before the inauguration," cautioning that “resettlement numbers may go to zero” once Trump takes office.
Nearby, as a health aide helped Roda Yaqub into the arrivals area at John Glenn Columbus International Airport, 24-year-old Deqa Alihashi rushed to greet her sister, whom she had never met.
Alihashi had relocated to Ohio from Somalia with her family in 2013 and immediately filed an application for Yaqub, 28, to join them. The process took over a decade—11 years of paperwork, security vetting, medical assessments, and above all, waiting.
“Today is the day that she's finally here,” Alihashi expressed. “I’m really so excited to reconnect with my big sister I’ve never seen before, hug her, make her feel like she’s welcome here.”
Behind her, about a dozen others waited to reunite with family members, holding flowers and flags beneath an airport sign that read “live to create opportunity.”
It was a moment underscored by a feeling of timely arrival.
“She beat before he got to the [White] House,” remarked Fadumo Abdi, a friend of Alihashi who was there to support her. Alihashi nodded in agreement, attributing it all to “God’s plan.”
Emily Johnson for TROIB News
