SPRINGFIELD — Some community leaders and supporters of the local Haitian community are headed to the nation’s capital.
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Many of those people have worked with Haitian immigrants for the past five years as they have come here legally under temporary protected status due to conditions in their country.
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Viles Dorsainvil runs the Haitian Community Center in Springfield.
He said he’s fought for his community for several years.
But this is the biggest threat, the current administration threatening to end their protected status, forcing them to go home or be here illegally.
“When we come here, we are asking for nothing else than to find a safe place to work,” Dorsainvil said.
The move of around 15,000 refugees in Springfield put a strain on community resources, but many have welcomed them.
“We like them, we want them to stay here, they’ve been a credit to our neighborhood,” Bruce Wagle of Springfield said.
Wagle is the president of the Rosedale Neighborhood Association.
He said the reason people in Springfield and Dayton rally to support Haitians is simple.
He said they are hard-working, law-abiding people just looking for a better life.
“Everybody that came here is usually an immigrant, traced back, so they’re making us great,” Wagle said.
The bottom line for those who support TPS status being extended for Haitians in the country is that the conditions in their home country haven’t changed, so their refugee status shouldn’t change.
The case will be heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
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