People attend a vigil and rally in support of Haitians who were checking in at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Blue Ash on Sunday, Aug. 9.
Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal immigration office Sunday morning, Aug. 9, to show support for Haitian immigrants from Springfield who were called to report for immigration check-ins.
The rally, organized by Ignite Peace in partnership with the Miami Valley Immigration Coalition, brought an estimated 500 to 550 people to the area of Kenwood and Malsbary roads in Blue Ash, according to Kelly Sheehy, director of development and communications for Ignite Peace.
The group gathered before 7 a.m., carrying Haitian and American flags and signs supporting immigrants. The rally was held as Haitian immigrants from Springfield were traveling to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Blue Ash for Sunday morning appointments.
Rally-goers sang songs, cheered and clapped to show support as multiple Haitian immigrants from Springfield entered the office for their appointments.
“Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here,” the crowd chanted at one point.
ICE lists its Cincinnati-area field office being at 9875 Redhill Drive in Blue Ash. The agency’s website says ICE check-ins are part of the immigration process for some people in removal proceedings and are separate from immigration court hearing.
Ignite Peace organizers said an estimated 50 to 60 Haitians living in Springfield have so far received letters ordering them to report for immigration check-ins.
The letters came after the federal government ended temporary protected status for Haiti, a designation that had allowed eligible Haitian nationals to remain and work legally in the United States.
Sheehy said Ignite Peace wanted to make people in the Cincinnati area aware that Haitians from Springfield are being required to make the trip to Blue Ash.
“A lot of Cincinnatians don’t know that there’s an ICE field office in Blue Ash in the first place,” Sheehy said. “Let alone that people are being asked to drive over 70 miles from their homes for these check-ins when they’ve already been stripped of their driver’s license. They’ve already been stripped of their work permits.”
Sheehy said the rally was also intended to draw attention to what organizers see as a change in immigration enforcement tactics.
“We’re not seeing what was happening in Minneapolis with these mass raids,” she said. “They’re really trying to fly under the radar because they know that people don’t want this, that they do not support this.”
Benjamin Louis (left) and Viles Dorsainvil (right) support Monsanto Maler, a Haitian immigrant living in Springfield, as he cries and falls to the ground after getting his ankle monitor installed on Sunday, Aug. 9, at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Blue Ash. Nick Graham / Staff
Nick Graham / Staff“We’re not going to let them do it in the shadows,” she said.
ICE says people released from custody may be required to attend regular check-in appointments as part of their immigration cases. The agency says the appointments are not immigration court hearings.
‘They felt supported’
Sunday’s rally followed a similar demonstration the previous weekend that also drew more than 500 people, according to Sheehy.
Benjamin Louis (left) and Viles Dorsainvil (right) stand with Monsanto Maler, a Haitian immigrant living in Springfield, as he cries and falls to the ground after getting his ankle monitor installed. Haitians living in southwest Ohio, and largely in Springfield, checked in Sunday, Aug. 9, at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Blue Ash after temporary protection status for Haitians was recently terminated by the Trump administration. Those who checked in were fitted with ankle monitors. Hundreds of protesters were on-site supporting the immigrants. Nick Graham / Staff
Nick GrahamEight Haitian immigrants attended check-ins on Aug. 2, she said. All eight left the office with electronic ankle monitors.
Sheehy said four people had confirmed appointments Sunday, although she did not know how many others might report to the office.
People who receive ankle monitors face restrictions on their travel, Sheehy said. She said those she spoke with had been told they could not travel more than 75 miles from home without permission from ICE.
A Haitian immigrant was fitted with an ankle monitor after being required to check in at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Blue Ash on Sunday, Aug. 9. Nick Graham PHOTOS / Staff
Nick GrahamSpringfield is about 70 miles from Blue Ash.
“It’s pretty much just a constant reminder of the fact that they’re being treated like criminals when they’ve done nothing wrong,” Sheehy said.
Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Support Center in Springfield, was at Sunday’s rally helping Haitian immigrants with transportation and interpretation.
Dorsainvil said four or five people his organization worked with were expected to come to Blue Ash Sunday. Others were expected to arrive on their own.
He also attended last Sunday’s rally and said the presence of supporters helped the immigrants who came for their appointments.
“They felt supported for sure,” Dorsainvil said. “When they showed up here and saw those folks, they feel that solidarity with them, and that helped them so much, psychologically speaking. It’s a boost for them.”
Dorsainvil said some of the people his organization is assisting have been in the United States for five years or more, although individual cases vary.
He said the uncertainty surrounding the ICE appointments has taken a psychological toll.
One man who attended a check-in last week was so terrified afterward that he went to an emergency room the following day, Dorsainvil said. Another person who came to the Haitian Support Center before a recent appointment became sick because of fear, he said.
Monsanto Maler was one of several Haitian immigrants who traveled from Springfield Sunday, Aug. 9, for a check in. Following his appointment, during which an ankle monitor was attached to him, Maler was seen collapsing to the ground and crying.
‘One day at a time’
Dorsainvil said the loss of work authorization has left some Haitian immigrants relying on savings and assistance from people in the community.
“For now, yeah,” he said. “Maybe some of them might rely on the saving that they had so far. Just don’t know how long they will be able to keep up.”
Asked how he and others are maintaining hope among the Haitian community, Dorsainvil said people are taking things one day at a time.
“I think the day we see is the day we know,” he said. “That’s the way it is for now. ... We just live one day at a time.”
Religious leaders also attended Sunday’s rally to offer support.
Carl Ruby, pastor of Central Christian Church in Springfield and founder of Springfield Neighbors United, said he and others prayed with Haitian immigrants at last week’s rally. This week, they served communion to people before they entered the ICE office.
Ruby said communion was intended to remind people that they would not be alone as they entered their appointments.
“We want the last thing that they experience is to be a reminder that Christ is going with them,” Ruby said.
Ruby said he believes the biblical call to welcome immigrants is especially relevant to the situation facing Springfield’s Haitian community.
He cited Matthew 25, in which Jesus speaks about welcoming strangers.
“‘How you welcome immigrants is how you welcome me,’” Ruby quoted.
Ruby described the conditions Haitian immigrants could face if returned to Haiti.
He said he had recently become more aware of sexual violence in Haiti and expressed concern for young women who attended Springfield schools and could be returned to the country.
“There are girls who attended Springfield City Schools and sat next to all of our other students who grew up in Ohio,” Ruby said. “They’re being sent back to — I believe some of them are going to be kidnapped and raped.”
Ruby said Haitian immigrants returning from the United States could face additional danger because of perceptions that they have money.
“They’re in way more danger than a typical Haitian,” he said.
Ruby said gangs could target people returning from the United States because they are believed to have access to money, including money the U.S. government has said deportees could receive upon their return.
For Sheehy, the large turnout Sunday was evidence that people are paying attention to what is happening to Springfield’s Haitian community.
“This is an issue that Cincinnatians and probably writ large the American people care about,” she said.
“We want to love our neighbors and be in community with each other, and have people have a pathway to being here permanently and legally with due access to due process,” Sheehy said. “So we’re here to show our solidarity.”