In Springfield, Ohio, officials claim there are 12,000-20,000 Haitian immigrants living in the region, possessing some form of legal status. This influx of population in the Springfield area served as a blessing in disguise, reversing the declining population while also increasing the average annual wage trend. Yet, as per usual, the good news is obscured by the bad.
Recently, bomb threats against Springfield institutions and organizations have been at their height. In 2024, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance made baseless claims concerning migrants in Ohio eating pet dogs and cats, which were disproven by Springfield police. Anti-immigration sentiment has increased over the past year, especially in the shadow of the current political climate. The Haitian community in Springfield, however, suffers especially from the negative attention and false allegations it has received from political officials, like Trump and Vance.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Operation Metro Surge, mainly attacking the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region, was created to mass deport undocumented immigrants and now presents a threat to the Springfield area. The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of Haitian migrants was set to expire on Feb. 3 before Federal Judge Ana Reyes granted a last-minute reprieve, which delayed the termination of the TPS. However, the length of the reprieve is unknown. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) promised Ohio Governor Mike DeWine a 24-hour notice before the movement of ICE agent surge troops into the city. While this may offer the Haitian population of Springfield, as well as other undocumented immigrants, the opportunity to flee before the increase in immigration enforcement, not everybody has the luxury or economic means to uproot their lives at such short notice. And it does not solve the root of the problem: that immigrants are being unfairly targeted.
ICE was implemented as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. In the past, the agency focused on transnational criminal activity, like drug smuggling. With the increase in immigration personnel and funding to the agency in major cities across the U.S., it is clear that the intentions have shifted inward. Now, family, friends and neighbors are being terrorized. Families have been torn apart, and migrants are being held captive in barbaric conditions. ICE seems to have lost its purpose, as it is now directly involved in endangering the lives of U.S. inhabitants, with and without criminal records, with unlawful force.
Even though ICE’s focus used to be on criminal activity of non-U.S. citizens, it seems that basis is no longer a requirement. Immigration agents shifted their attention to specific people and locations in part of their new strategy. Agents commonly surveil Home Depot stores, street vending areas, mosques and construction sites, amongst other locations that migrants are likely to gather, like ethnic grocery stores or diasporic communities. Over the past year, there has been an influx of racial-profiling allegations against the federal agents. The Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo ruling of 2025 complicated the management of racial-profiling allegations through the Federal Tort Claims Act, though. And in September 2025, the Supreme Court halted a ruling that placed restrictions on the action of agents interrogating people on the basis of racial profiling in Southern California. These judicial rulings all act against the interests of immigrants because, now, all it takes to be considered a threat to civilians is having an accent or the color of your skin.
As an ethnically diverse academic institution and local community, we must uplift each other in these times of high anxiety and fear. Subscribing to apathy would hurt our community severely. As a population of exceptional students, it is without a doubt that we are a motivated, ambitious bunch. It is true that our academic achievements are important, though adopting an individualistic way of thinking fails to leave room for our peers and community. The inhumanity and injustice experienced daily by migrants seized by ICE should be reason enough to get your nose out of your textbook. This is the reality we live in, and we have to express that. Ignorance will jeopardize our futures.