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mike dewine
ICE Expected to Flood Ohio Next Week and Round Up Haitians Stripped of Legal Status By Trump
Holocaust historian Timothy Snyder said it sounds like ICE is "gearing up for a pogrom in Springfield, Ohio."
Jan 30, 2026
The Trump administration is expected to flood Ohio with immigration agents next week to target thousands of Haitian migrants after they are stripped of their legal status.
One of the main targets will be the town of Springfield, where President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance infamously concocted the tale that Haitian immigrants were eating the pets of white residents to stoke xenophobia during the 2024 election, which unleashed an onslaught of racist threats and intimidation upon the community.
Earlier this week, the Springfield News-Sun received a message sent to staff at the Springfield City School District saying that school officials were expecting a federal immigration enforcement operation to begin in the town sometime after February 3, when Haitian residents' temporary protected status (TPS) expires, and last at least 30 days.
Given that history and the escalating brutality with which US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has carried out its recent surges in Minnesota and Maine, Holocaust historian Timothy Snyder said he was "getting the impression that ICE is gearing up for a pogrom in Springfield, Ohio."
"Any day now, a swarm of armed state police dressed for war could descend" on the town, wrote columnist Marilou Johanek in the Ohio Capital Journal. "The small town of Springfield in Clark County is awaiting an invasion of unaccountable thugs who conceal their faces and identities, drive in unmarked vehicles with blackened windows, stomp on the Bill of Rights, and viciously brutalize human beings based on race and accent."
The 15,000 Haitians living in Springfield are among around 30,000 in Ohio and more than 500,000 across the US who are expected to lose TPS on Tuesday after it was abruptly revoked by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last year. The expiration could be halted by US District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes, who is expected to issue a decision on February 2.
If not, "they could potentially be arrested, detained, or put in removal proceedings unless they have already applied for some other form of relief they have in addition to TPS, or that they are applying for in addition to TPS,” explained Emily Brown, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law’s Immigration Clinic Director to the Journal.
While the Trump administration has often emphasized its supposed targeting of those in the US unlawfully, editor-in-chief David DeWitt at the Journal emphasizes that "Haitians are currently in the United States legally," under TPS, which grants temporary legal status to those in danger from armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary conditions in their home countries.
The Haitians living in the US are at risk of being deported back to what has been described as "the most dangerous country in the world," in the midst of a gang war that killed over 8,100 people between January and November 2025, according to the United Nations.
"They are not here illegally," DeWitt wrote on social media. "Trump is revoking their legal status on February 3, and then, according to reports, immediately sending ICE in to Springfield and Columbus, Ohio, to target them."
As part of a crusade to end migration from impoverished "Third World" countries, Trump has ramped up his use of racist invective against Haiti in recent months, proudly referring to it as a "shithole country" at a rally in December after denying having described it that way back in 2018.
Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, told the Journal that rumors of the coming surge have struck terror into the hearts of many in the community.
"The folks are fearful,” Dorsainvil, who came to the United States from Haiti in 2020, said. “They came here just to work and send their kids to school and be here peacefully. All of a sudden, they find themselves in another scenario where they’re not accepted… They are panicked, and the worst thing is that they can’t even plan their lives for three months down the road.”
One TPS holder, 41-year-old Pushon Jacques, told the News-Sun that the potential loss of his status "has a big impact." He said: “I won’t be able to work, I will not be able to provide for my family. It’s a bad situation to be in.”
While the administration has emphasized "self-deportation" as a way to avoid being on the business end of an ICE jackboot, Jacques said: “The situation in Haiti—especially the political situation—has made Haiti unlivable... There is no place in Haiti that is safe right now."
Local reports say residents are already preparing for their town to come under siege, and despite the White House's portrayal of Haitians as loathed outsiders, many others in the community have come out to support them.
Churches are running immersive role-playing sessions to train community members on what to do if ICE agents attempt to storm their doors, and residents have constructed phone chains to alert vulnerable community members when agents are spotted.
The Springfield City Council, meanwhile, has passed a resolution urging federal agents to comply with city policies that prohibit police from wearing masks and require them to carry identification, though the city has no authority to enforce them.
“Springfield is a good place,” Jacques said. “I like the environment and the people, because Springfield has a lot of good people... I have never felt any racism, and I feel appreciated.”
Despite attacks from the leaders of his party, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has defended his state's Haitian community, telling the statehouse bureau, "I don't think it’s in our interest in this country for all the Haitians who are working, who are sometimes working two jobs, supporting their family, supporting the economy, I think it’s a mistake to tell these individuals you can no longer work and have to leave the country."
According to a spokesperson for DeWine, there has been no formal communication between federal authorities and the governor about ICE's plans for the state. However, DeWine said, "If ICE does in fact come in, comes in with a big operation, obviously we have to work this thing through and make sure people don't get hurt."
The ACLU of Ohio said it will be monitoring the situation in Springfield closely for unconstitutional actions.
"This despicable surge in lawless ICE officers descending upon Springfield will ignite swells of fear within the Haitian community, terrorize our Black and Brown neighbors, and cause considerable damage to citizens and non-citizens alike," said ACLU Ohio executive director J. Bennett Guess.
"Following the government’s senseless, brutal killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, it is clear that ICE poses a grave threat to all who call Ohio home," he continued. "The ACLU of Ohio urges state and local elected officials to do everything in their power to protect the 30,000 Haitians living in Central Ohio. We call on the US Congress to reject a DHS budget that allows these lawless agencies to continue putting our communities in danger.”
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Ohio Governor Signs 'Harmful' Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill
"It's really not about the bathrooms. It's about demonizing and frightening people," said one Ohio lawmaker.
Nov 27, 2024
Pro-LGBTQ+ voices panned an Ohio bill signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine Wednesday that will bar transgender students in public and private Ohio schools from using "multi-occupancy facility"—bathrooms, as well as locker rooms, changing room, or shower rooms—that match their gender identity.
"We made it clear to Gov. DeWine and Ohio legislators that S.B. 104 does nothing to make trans students safer in schools, and in fact makes life more dangerous for trans kids in Ohio," said Equality Ohio executive director Dwayne Steward in a statement.
"We are deeply disappointed that Gov.DeWine has allowed this dangerous bill to become law that puts vulnerable trans youth at risk for abuse and harassment. Equality Ohio will continue to stand in solidarity with our transgender communities and their families, and we will always fight for fairness in Ohio," Steward added.
The ACLU of Ohio said on social media that "transgender people are part of the fabric of Ohio; our families, our workplaces, and our neighborhoods. We remain steadfast in our commitment to the LGBTQ+ community and are closely considering next steps."
In a statement published after the legislation passed in the Ohio Senate, Jocelyn Rosnick, policy director for the ACLU of Ohio, said that "this bill ignores the material reality that transgender people endure higher rates of sexual violence and assaults, particularly while using public restrooms, than people who are not transgender."
According to Mother Jones, Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-23), the first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to the Ohio Legislature, said during a floor debate on the bill: "It's really not about the bathrooms. It's about demonizing and frightening people."
The law applies to K-12 and higher education institutions and schools are not allowed to offer gender-neutral multi-stall facilities; however, the bill doesn't prevent schools from establishing "a policy providing accommodation such as single-occupancy facilities or controlled use of faculty facilities at the request of a student due to special circumstances."
But Mallory Golski, civic engagement and advocacy manager at the queer youth support organization Kaleidoscope Youth Center, expressed skepticism that providing access through single-occupancy facilities would really help gender expansive students in an interview with Mother Jones. "I just don't foresee a scenario in which schools that are already historically underfunded are going to be able to drop everything and build new bathrooms," she said. "It's just not possible."
The signing of the anti-trans legislation Wednesday runs counter to a move by DeWine last year. The governor chose to veto a bill that blocked gender-affirming care for trans youth and prevented transgender athletes from playing women's sports (lawmakers later overrode his veto).
Ohio is one of 14 states that have implemented some sort of restriction on transgender people's use of bathroom or facilities consistent with their gender identity, according to the think tank the Movement Advancement Project. Some of those states also have restrictions in place on some government buildings.
The recently signed bill in Ohio comes days after Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced a resolution seeking to prevent trans women employees and members of the House of Representatives from using the women's bathrooms at the U.S. Capitol. Though Mace did not initially name any member of Congress specifically, she later admitted the measure was "absolutely" aimed at incoming Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware, the first openly trans person elected to Congress.
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Why Does the Governor of Ohio Support the 'Piece of Garbage' MAGA Liars?
Is there any lie that Trump/Vance could tell that might turn DeWine into a former supporter?
Sep 21, 2024
Mike DeWine, the mild-mannered avuncular Republican governor of Ohio, told ABC News that the claim made by GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance about Haitians eating pets was “a piece of garbage.” He also criticized Vance for saying that the Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were “illegal aliens,” when in fact they are living there legally.
You would think that DeWine might finally have had his fill of the garbage lies, enough so that he’d break with the liars, but you would be wrong.
The headline on his New York Times guest essay Friday (“I’m the Republican Governor of Ohio. Here is the Truth about Springfield”) raises hopes, until we read the fine print.
You would think that DeWine might finally have had his fill of the garbage lies, enough so that he'd break with the liars, but you would be wrong.
DeWine gushes about how much he and his wife adore Springfield and its people, and how these wonderful, hard-working immigrants from Haiti are helping to rebuild a town that was fading away economically. DeWine comes across as a caring, honest, God-fearing man who by all rights should absolutely detest anyone who so willfully lied about the town he grew up in and these hard-working immigrants who are revitalizing it.
But just when you think he’s about to break with the liars he expresses his support for them, explaining how they are just making a tactical error: “As a supporter of former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance, I am saddened by how they and others continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage the legal migrants living in Springfield. This rhetoric hurts the city and its people, and it hurts those who have spent their lives there…. [T]heir verbal attacks against these Haitians – who are legally in the United States – dilute and cloud what should be a winning argument about the border.”
Is there any lie that Trump/Vance could tell that might turn DeWine into a former supporter?
The Ohio governor, who ran nine points ahead of Vance in their 2022 statewide elections, may soon be tested by the orange emperor-in-exile, who always demands fealty. To be sure, Trump’s political tacticians will tell him to ignore the critique, but Trump may decide that DeWine needs an attitude adjustment. In Trump’s warped brain a strong leader brooks no criticism without firing back even harder. If Trump acts like Trump, DeWine might have “piece of garbage” lies headed his way.
As far as I know, no other current Republican officeholder above the city level in Springfield has dared to offer such a scathing critique of the shameless lies about the Haitians. The last time we heard such criticisms from Republican leaders was after January 6th, and all those who had harsh words for Trump then either have left office, recanted, or gone silent. Today, lying about Haitians seems like a small price to pay to stay in Trump’s good graces. It’s one thing for Dick and Liz Chaney to take him on, but it’s quite another for any Republican who plans to hold office while Trump still commands his base.
For those hoping for a Trump defeat, it would be best for Trump to be Trump and mercilessly rip into DeWine, forcing the governor either to fall to his knees in supplication or walk away. But even if attacked, does DeWine have the guts to walk away from the shameless liars?
The jury is out. So far Springfield’s most famous citizen has shown that he has enough gumption to critique the “piece of garbage” lies about his hometown, but nowhere near enough to take on the liars who spew them.
That seems to count for heroism in today’s cowered Republican party.
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