Mike DeWine calls Haitian deportations a mistake

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is breaking with the Trump administration over Haitian deportations, telling CBS News that a plan to ramp up arrests and removals of Haitian migrants would be a “mistake” for his state and for people facing danger in Haiti.

The Republican governor said Monday in Columbus that the operations would be “a blow to Springfield” and “a blow to the state of Ohio,” pointing to Haitian residents who have taken jobs and started businesses in the city.

More than 300,000 Haitians are set this week to lose Temporary Protected Status, a humanitarian immigration program that blocks deportation and gives work authorization to people from countries considered unsafe because of disasters, violence or other crises. CBS News reported Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has prepared plans for a deportation push focused on Haitian migrants as early as this week.

Why does Mike DeWine oppose Haitian deportations?

DeWine told CBS News that Haitians in Springfield helped the city rebound economically by filling jobs that others had not taken. “They came there to work,” he said, describing residents who found employment and opened businesses in an economically struggling city.

The governor also warned that Haiti remains dangerous. He described the country as being in “virtual chaos,” with “no semblance of government,” and said deporting people there would mean sending them “back to hell.”

The U.S. State Department warns Americans not to travel to Haiti. The country has faced years of political instability, and gangs control large areas, according to the United Nations.

DeWine predicted many Haitians would leave for another country rather than return to Haiti if forced out of the United States. He said they want to work, support their families and avoid going back.

What is Temporary Protected Status for Haitians?

Temporary Protected Status, known as TPS, allows people already in the United States to stay and work when their home country is considered too dangerous for return. Haiti has had the designation since 2010, after a devastating earthquake, and the protection has been renewed several times.

The Biden administration extended Haiti’s TPS in 2024, citing “violence and instability,” according to a federal notice. Around 334,000 Haitians had the status last year, not counting those who also held green cards, according to federal data cited in the notice.

The Department of Homeland Security moved last year to end TPS for Haitians, saying the designation was “not in the national interest” and that migration from Haiti posed a “risk” to the United States. DHS also said Haiti’s environmental conditions had improved enough for citizens to return safely.

DHS has argued that TPS was designed as a temporary reprieve and has become a “defacto amnesty program.” In a statement to CBS News over the weekend, the department said, “it’s closing time which means you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here,” and encouraged people losing protection to self-deport with $2,600 and a free flight home.

The administration’s move drew lawsuits. A judge blocked the termination in February, calling it “arbitrary and capricious” and partly “rooted in racial animus.” The Trump administration took the fight to the Supreme Court, which ruled in late June that the government could proceed with ending Temporary Protected Status for Haiti and Syria.

Why Springfield is at the center of the fight

Thousands of Haitians live in Ohio, and many settled in Springfield in recent years. During the 2024 campaign, President Trump claimed without evidence that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating cats and dogs.

DeWine pushed back then as well, telling CBS News in 2024 that the claim came from the internet and that local officials had found no evidence to support it. He also said the arrival of as many as 15,000 immigrants in and around a city of fewer than 60,000 people had strained services, including health care.

Even with those pressures, DeWine said at the time that Haitian migrants had filled many jobs and worked hard. His latest comments put him again at odds with Trump on an issue that has made Springfield a national flashpoint.

This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.