Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, turn to faith amid deportation fears
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.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I asked God to protect my people,바카라 게임 웹사이트 the Rev. Reginald Silencieux said after the service, reflecting on his final prayer. 바카라 게임 웹사이트I prayed especially for the Haitian community, and I prayed for U.S.A. too, because Trump is our president. As a church, we have an obligation to pray for him because he바카라 게임 웹사이트s our political leader right now.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Some of Springfield's estimated 15,000 Haitians seek solace and divine intervention in their churches or shops selling 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.
바카라 게임 웹사이트The community is panicking.바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Viles Dorsainvil, the leader of Springfield's Haitian Community Help and Support Center. 바카라 게임 웹사이트They see the arrests on TV in other parts of the country and they don바카라 게임 웹사이트t know what바카라 게임 웹사이트s going to happen.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트The majority of immigrants in the U.S.A. are not criminals, and they바카라 게임 웹사이트re hard-working people,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he added. 바카라 게임 웹사이트Any administration with common sense would rather work with those kinds of immigrants than deport them.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Last year, Trump falsely accused Haitians in Springfield of eating their neighbor바카라 게임 웹사이트s cats and dogs. The false rumors exacerbated fears about division and anti-immigrant sentiment in the mostly white, blue-collar city of about 59,000.
In the weeks after his comments, schools, government buildings and the homes of elected officials were targeted with dozens of bomb threats.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Before, we had a different type of fear 바카라 게임 웹사이트 it was a fear of retaliation, whether it was the far right, the Proud Boys,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Jacob Payen, a Haitian community leader and owner of Milokan Botanica, a religious shop that sells Haitian spiritual and natural healing products.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Now, there바카라 게임 웹사이트s a fear of deportation. That keeps a lot of people from going out and has caused a lot of people to have left,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he said, pointing to the usually busy commercial plaza where his business is located and that was now more quiet than usual.
Between selling religious candles and spiritual ointments, Payne guided customers with immigration forms, employment authorization cards and questions on their TPS applications.
Brutus Joseph, 50, who works installing solar panels, said he came to the botanica to find spiritual relief. But he also wanted to speak his mind.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I don바카라 게임 웹사이트t feel right at all. I have a lot in my chest,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Joseph said in Creole through an interpreter. 바카라 게임 웹사이트My wife and I can바카라 게임 웹사이트t even sleep because we바카라 게임 웹사이트re so worried. We바카라 게임 웹사이트re law-abiding citizens 바카라 게임 웹사이트 all we did is to be Haitian. We didn바카라 게임 웹사이트t think we바카라 게임 웹사이트d be treated like this by the (Trump) administration. I바카라 게임 웹사이트m praying to God that the president changes his mind.바카라 게임 웹사이트
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.
바카라 게임 웹사이트If I leave here, there바카라 게임 웹사이트s no future for my children. My children can get raped and killed if I go back, so I have everything to lose," he said, making an appeal to Trump as a fellow family man who is married to an immigrant.
The Rev. Philomene Philostin, one of the pastors at the First Haitian Evangelical Church, bemoaned the lower-than-usual attendance at Sunday's service.
바카라 게임 웹사이트They don't have to be scared. They have to be alert," she said. "They shouldn't be scared to the point where they don't come to church.바카라 게임 웹사이트
The migration concerns of clergy and other community members in Springfield are shared by many faith leaders nationwide. In several cities, including New York, Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon, interfaith groups are discussing how to provide security and support to migrants in their communities, including those who are undocumented.
During his first administration, Trump used bluntly to question why the U.S. would accept immigrants from Haiti and 바카라 게임 웹사이트shithole countries바카라 게임 웹사이트 in Africa. His 2024 campaign focused heavily on illegal immigration, often referring in his speeches to crimes committed by migrants.
Thousands of temporary Haitian migrants have legally landed in Springfield in recent years under the TPS program, as longstanding unrest in their home country has given way to .
바카라 게임 웹사이트Everything changed because Trump is president. People are scared right now. Most are staying in their homes 바카라 게임 웹사이트 they don바카라 게임 웹사이트t want to go outside,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Romane Pierre, 41, who settled in Springfield in 2020 under the TPS program after fleeing violence in his native Haiti.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I love my country, but you can바카라 게임 웹사이트t live there; it바카라 게임 웹사이트s terrible right now,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Pierre, who works at the Rose Gaute, a popular Haitian restaurant in Springfield. 바카라 게임 웹사이트So where do you go back to?바카라 게임 웹사이트
Last year, his 8-year-old daughter got ill in the middle of the night. Gunshots rang in their neighborhood in the capital of Port-Au-Prince, and her mother felt it was too dangerous to take her to the hospital. She died in the morning in front of the hospital entrance. Pierre couldn바카라 게임 웹사이트t get a permit on time to return for her funeral.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Sometimes, life is difficult,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he said pensively on a break from work.
The TPS, which allows him and thousands of others to remain legally in Springfield, expires on February 2026. He still hopes Trump will keep in mind the violence in Haiti and renew it.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Think about Haitians because Haiti is not a place to return to right now,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트God, talk to Mr. Trump and do something for Haitians.바카라 게임 웹사이트
The migrants' fears were echoed by the president of Haiti바카라 게임 웹사이트s transitional presidential council, who said the Trump administration바카라 게임 웹사이트s decisions to freeze aid programs, deport migrants and block refugees will be 바카라 게임 웹사이트catastrophic바카라 게임 웹사이트 for Haiti.
Leslie Voltaire made the comment in an interview with The Associated Press in Rome on Saturday following a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
The pontiff and Voltaire discussed the dire situation in Haiti where gangs have killed civilians and operate across the Caribbean nation with impunity. Half of Haiti바카라 게임 웹사이트s 11.4 million people are already hungry, according to Voltaire, and losing humanitarian assistance will make the situation dramatically worse.