Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, turn to faith amid deportation fears
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — At the end of his Sunday service, the pastor of the First Haitian Evangelical Church of Springfield, Ohio, asked ushers and musicians to form a circle around him as he knelt in prayer, flanked by the flags of Haiti and the United States.
Many had come to receive his blessing and hear his guidance on how to deal with federal agents in case of raids stemming from President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. Other congregants stayed home out of fear and growing uncertainty.
Some of Springfield’s estimated 15,000 Haitians are seeking solace and divine intervention in their churches or at shops that sell spiritual products. Community leaders say many are overwhelmed by fears Trump will end or let expire the Temporary Protected Status program that allows them to remain in the U.S. legally.
“The community is panicking.” said Viles Dorsainvil, the leader of Springfield’s Haitian Community Help and Support Center. “They see the arrests on TV in other parts of the country and they don’t know what’s going to happen.”
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“I don’t feel right at all. I have a lot in my chest,” Joseph said in Creole through an interpreter. “My wife and I can’t even sleep because we’re so worried. We’re law-abiding citizens — all we did is to be Haitian. We didn’t think we’d be treated like this by the (Trump) administration. I’m praying to God that the president changes his mind.”
Joseph especially worries about the future for his five children, including one who is a senior in high school in Springfield and plans to attend college this year.
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/01/haitian-migrants-in-springfield-ohio-turn-to-faith-amid-deportation-fears.html
Can’t DeWine do anything to help these people? He and his wife have been generous with their support of the Haitians in Middletown up until now - occasionally showing up for Mass at their church, patronizing their restaurants, ordering that government forms be printed in Creole.
Who am I kidding, he is just as cowed by the Orange Turd as everyone else.
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Both sides pray for victory.
One side always loses because they either irritated God by praying too much or praying too little. 