Republican Governor Is Fighting The Trump Administration To Keep Illegal Haitians In Ohio

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Monday the Trump administration would be making a “mistake” if it were to deport thousands of Haitian migrants who it has stripped of their temporary protected status (TPS).

“It’s a mistake. It’s not good for the United States and it’s not good for the state of Ohio,” DeWine told CBS News’s Camilo Montoya-Galvez.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to ramp up operations to arrest and deport Haitian migrants without legal status, CBS News reported Monday. DeWine, whose state has a significant Haitian diaspora, told the outlet he has “received no notification” of such a plan from ICE.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ended TPS for Haitians last year, and the Supreme Court upheld that move last month. Prior to the expiration of TPS on Monday, there were roughly 330,000 Haitians in the U.S. with that status, with 14,000 living in Ohio, according to a January report from the immigration advocacy group Fwd.us.

DeWine has long defended Haitian migrants, saying they contribute to his state’s economy. He made the same argument to CBS News, saying Haitians “have helped” cities such as Springfield.

The governor later added, “These are people who have opened restaurants. They’ve opened other businesses. They’re rehabbed houses. They’ve created jobs, as well as filled jobs.

“So to lose them and have them not be able to work anymore and possibly taken out of this country, it’s frankly a blow to Springfield and a blow to the state of Ohio.”

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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, called planned ICE operations targeting Haitian migrants “a mistake,” saying they “came here to work” and fill vacant jobs.

He told @camiloreports that the deportation plans, first reported by CBS News, would be an economic “blow” to Ohio… pic.twitter.com/OSBjwQn3zA

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 28, 2026

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Ohio GOP Governor Mike DeWine is very upset about Haitians losing their TPS status: “They won’t have any way to make a living. It will be illegal for companies to employ them. This will be a big blow to the community. These are people who came here to work and fill jobs.” pic.twitter.com/3lm9ty6LCR

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) July 27, 2026

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“They’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats”

Trump is bugging

#Debate2024 pic.twitter.com/RKIQaKcuAZ

— Randy Cruz (@randyjcruz) September 11, 2024

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made plans to ramp up operations to arrest and deport Haitian migrants, as hundreds of thousands of Haitians brace for the termination of their legal status, according to two agency sources and federal documents obtained by CBS News.

The plans include arresting migrants in Ohio — where large Haitian communities in cities like Springfield have been targeted by President Trump and conservative politicians and commentators — and quickly putting them on deportation flights to crisis-stricken Haiti, the internal documents indicate. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Mr. Trump amplified baseless claims that Haitians in Springfield were eating cats and dogs.

The internal plans for a potential arrest and deportation blitz have been made as more than 300,000 Haitians prepare to lose deportation protections and work permits under the Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, program. The Supreme Court last month sided with the Trump administration in its efforts to end the TPS programs for Haitians and Syrians. That ruling’s binding mandate is set to be issued to lower courts on Monday.

Since that ruling, fear and uncertainty have swept throughout Haitian communities across the U.S. Immigrants whose TPS lapses immediately lose their ability to work in the country legally, and become eligible to be arrested and processed for deportation by ICE, unless they have another status. Those without removal orders are generally entitled to appear before an immigration judge before any deportation can take place.

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