Temporary Protected Status for Haitians will expire at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, barring any court interventions. What does this mean for the thousands of Haitians who have come to call Springfield home?
Below, we've compiled answers to some of the most common questions we've heard from community members.
Do you have a question that hasn't been answered below? Email nhrkman@wyso.org.
What is Temporary Protected Status (TPS)?
TPS is provided to citizens of certain countries experiencing significant issues that make it unsafe for them to return to their country of origin.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a country for TPS due to:
- Ongoing armed conflict (such as civil war).
- An environmental disaster (such as earthquake or hurricane), or an epidemic.
- Other extraordinary and temporary conditions.
Individuals who are TPS beneficiaries:
- Are not removable from the United States.
- Can obtain an employment authorization document (EAD).
- May be granted travel authorization.
- Cannot be detained by DHS on the basis of his or her immigration status in the United States.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has terminated TPS for Haiti and TPS benefits will no longer be in effect starting at 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2026.
How long has TPS existed?
The George H.W. Bush administration enacted the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program in 1990. The United States granted TPS to citizens of El Salvador that same year.
Who is eligible for TPS?
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to be eligible for TPS, you must:
- Be a citizen of a country designated for TPS, or a person without nationality who last habitually resided in the designated country;
- File during the open initial registration or re-registration period, or you meet the requirements for late initial filing during any extension of the country’s TPS designation;
- Have been continuously physically present in the United States since the effective date of the most recent designation date of the country; and
- Have been continuously residing in the United States since the date specified for the designated country.
You may NOT be eligible for TPS or to maintain your existing TPS if you:
- Have been convicted of any felony or two or more misdemeanors committed in the United States;
- Are found inadmissible as an immigrant under applicable grounds;
- Are subject to any of the mandatory bars to asylum;
- Fail to meet the continuous physical presence and continuous residence in the United States requirements;
- Fail to meet initial or late initial TPS registration requirements; or
- If granted TPS, you fail to re-register for TPS, as required, without good cause.
Why was Haiti granted TPS?
Haitians were initially granted Temporary Protected Status after an earthquake in 2010 devastated the country and killed 222,570 people.
The Biden administration extended Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in 2021 after the assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moïse.
Why was TPS revoked for Haiti?
According to a notice by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Nov. 28, 2025, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem determined that “there are no extraordinary and temporary conditions in Haiti that prevent Haitian nationals (or aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) from returning in safety. Moreover, even if the Department found that there existed conditions that were extraordinary and temporary that prevented Haitian nationals (or aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) from returning in safety, termination of Temporary Protected Status of Haiti is still required because it is contrary to the national interest of the United States to permit Haitian nationals (or aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in Haiti) to remain temporarily in the United States.”
Is it actually safe for Haitian foreign nationals to return?
Gang violence, political turmoil, food shortages and other issues have recently been reported in Haiti, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The U.S. Department of State issued a "Do Not Travel" advisory for Haiti, "due to kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care." In July 2023, the State department ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members to leave the country due to security risks.
"Haiti has been under a State of Emergency since March 2024," the federal government's travel advisory says. "Crimes involving firearms are common in Haiti. They include robbery, carjackings, sexual assault, and kidnappings for ransom. Do not travel to Haiti for any reason."
Gov. Mike DeWine said in June that Haiti is "one of the most dangerous places in the world,” and that it's a horribly, horribly violent place today, and things have not gotten better. They’ve actually gotten worse."
How many individuals in the U.S. are protected by TPS?
As of March 31, 2025, the U.S. provided TPS protections to about 1,297,635 individuals from 17 different countries. More than 330,000 Haitians are living in the United States with TPS.
How many individuals in Ohio are protected by TPS?
26,490 foreign nationals with TPS protections lived in Ohio as of March 31, 2025.
How many affected Haitians live in the Springfield area?
According to a fact sheet from the city of Springfield that uses data from sources such as the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Springfield City Schools, area health care providers and social services agencies, the total immigrant population is estimated to be approximately 12,000 – 15,000 in Clark County. Springfield’s total population was less than 60,000, according to 2020 census data.
What is the legal status of someone in the country if TPS status is revoked?
If a country’s TPS designation isn't extended, the individual’s legal status in the U.S. will revert to what it was before they were granted TPS, potentially returning to an undocumented status and putting them at risk of being deported. A TPS recipient is not barred from acquiring another immigration status if he or she meets the requirements.
What happens to U.S.-born Haitian children who don't leave with their parents?
According to the Center for Migration Studies: “When an undocumented immigrant is detained, they are allowed at least one phone call to make arrangements for their children’s care. A 2022 ICE directive requires that ICE accommodate the parent’s wishes absent a safety concern, and record the parent’s decision. The child welfare system is contacted if the parent cannot make care arrangements, or if ICE has a concern about the safety of the child. However, ICE does not take custody of citizen children. The ICE directive requires that parents be kept geographically close to their children whenever possible, that visitation be allowed, and that they be allowed to participate in guardianship or child welfare proceedings.”
What about non-citizen children?
According to the Center for Migration Studies: “When Immigration and Customs Enforcement encounters non-citizen children without status who are separated from their parents, they are typically transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the same entity responsible for unaccompanied minor children crossing the border. The ORR houses and cares for the apprehended child until the child is placed with a relative or other vetted sponsor, while the immigration adjudication is underway. There are certain pathways to immigration relief like Special Immigrant Juvenile status that are particular to children separated from their parents.
"When both non-citizen parents and non-citizen children are apprehended and detained, the Flores Settlement Agreement of 1997 entitles welfare protections — though not public legal counsel — to children in immigration custody. The agreement also requires that children, without unnecessary delay, be released from detention to a vetted and adequate sponsor. However, the court ruled that this agreement does not require the simultaneous release of both the detained children and parents. ”
What are residents' rights when dealing with immigration enforcement?
Springfield leaders have hosted information sessions for residents ahead of anticipated Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the region.
ABLE attorney Maria Otera at one of the sessions said ICE agents don’t automatically have authority to enter a private home or a business. They must have a signed judicial warrant.
"If ICE shows up without a judicial warrant, you do not have to let them in," Otera said. "Make sure that you don't open the door either cause sometimes opening the door, they'll take that as an invite to get in. So just talk to them through a window, through the door."
"You do need to be careful about if you are shielding someone that you know ICE is directly pursuing, then you could be getting into a space where you're considered to be harboring," said attorney Katie Kersh, who manages ABLE’s immigration practice. "You need to talk to an attorney who specializes in criminal law and or business law, because you're really asking about a business's right to create private spaces and exclude law enforcement and others from private spaces."
Did a government agency force Haitians to locate in Springfield?
No government entity is responsible for the influx of Haitians into Clark County. Once a person with TPS enters the country, they are free to locate wherever they choose.
Do ICE agents have to carry ID or show their faces, like other law enforcement?
Springfield City Law Director Jill Allen said they can’t require federal agents to follow the same policies as their local law enforcement officers.
So commissioners passed a resolution on Jan. 27, 2026, requesting federal agencies to carry ID and skip masks, saying it supports safety and security for residents.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue described the resolution as a "voted wish."
"We would hope that federal agents would treat our residents with dignity and respect, and that I would hope that they would reveal their faces as other law enforcement officers have to," he said at the commission meeting.
How will this affect Springfield City School students?
Springfield Superintendent Bob Hill said in a written statement on Wednesday that the district is planning deliberately, with the goal of being ready to respond and communicate.
“Our students are at the center of every decision the Springfield City School District makes," Hill said. "That responsibility means thinking ahead and preparing for a variety of possible situations, even when circumstances are still evolving.”
Hill’s statement directs school staff to focus on students, be calm and supportive. He also reminded staff, they are prohibited from engaging in political activity on the job.
In December during a public town hall, Hill shared his plan if agents come to a school in the district.
"As long as they present the school district with the appropriate paperwork, we will follow the law. However, we have procedures in place to ensure that that does not occur in the hallways, in the classrooms. It will be handled in a professional manner, in a discreet manner, to prevent any type of disruption to the educational process of all students," said Hill.
How could ICE activity affect the local economy?
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has warned about a potential economic crisis for the region.
"The facts are things individuals are contributing to the economy of the local community," DeWine told the Statehouse News Bureau. "When you talk to business men and women who are employing them, what they tell me has not changed. It continues to be, 'We need them to work. They are reliable. Yes, there are language challenges. Yes, there are cultural challenges. But they show up. They work, they want overtime, they're reliable and they pass drug tests.'"
DeWine said he's concerned about what will happen to the overall Springfield area as well.
“You're going to have a lot of unfilled jobs. You're going to have whatever the consequences is of 10,000 or who knows how many — no one knows really — people who are no longer being able to be employed," DeWine said. "They want to work. Many of them are raising families. Some of them have children who are citizens. So, yeah, this is not a good situation."
