SPRINGFIELD — As it stands, next week, thousands of Haitian immigrants in Clark County are set to lose their temporary ability to stay in the United States legally.
For months, News Center 7 has been covering the changes we could see in that part of the Miami Valley because of this.
Over the last three weeks, the News Center 7 I-Team’s lead investigative reporter, John Bedell, spent time in Springfield. That’s where he learned that, as this immigration deadline approaches, there are concerns about a potential strain on the state’s child welfare system.
Right now, Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haitians allows immigrants from that country with that status to be in the U.S. legally. But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in November that TPS for Haitians is set to expire after February 3. The move means Haitians who only have TPS as an immigration designation will have the temporary legal status that comes with it revoked.
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As of the publication of this report, there are several legal battles in federal courts challenging the cancellation of TPS for one million Haitians and Venezuelans. A federal appeals judge heard oral arguments in one of the cases on January 14.
In Springfield, St. Vincent de Paul is where many Haitian immigrants go for all kinds of humanitarian help.
It’s at that building on the city’s east side where the I-Team met Roosson Hippolyte, his wife, and the couple’s two-month-old daughter.
“(I’ve been) living about a year in Springfield,” Hippolyte told the I-Team through a translator.
Hippolyte said he has Temporary Protected Status. It’s set to expire next week. He told the I-Team his infant daughter was born in Clark County. That makes her a U.S. citizen.
Data the News Center 7 I-Team requested from the Clark County Combined Health District shows Hippolyte’s daughter is one of 696 Haitian children born as U.S. citizens in Clark County over the last two and a half years – from June 2023 through December 2025.
Hippolyte said even with his TPS set to expire in days, he doesn’t want to “go to another place and then start over.” He says his family has “nowhere else to go.”
He also says he’s concerned about what might happen to his daughter when he and his wife are deported.
“Yeah, I’m feeling afraid (about that),” Hippolyte said through a translator.
He’s not alone in thinking about that scenario.
“Well, there’s a great concern about that,” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine told the I-Team. “I mean, someone gets picked up, what happens to their child? Some of their children are American citizens now. They were born here.”
Last week, the I-Team talked to DeWine in a one-on-one interview at his home in Greene County. It was not the first time the governor has expressed concern to the I-Team about what the TPS expiration deadline could mean for the state child welfare system.
“The big concern we have is what happens (if) someone gets picked up, the child is there, and then that person is gone. The parent is gone, or both parents are gone. Who takes care of the child?” DeWine said.
“Springfield Schools have about 1,000 children who are Haitian. What happens if, during school hours, the parents get picked up? These are all concerns that we have …. What do we do if we end up with a lot of kids who have no place to go? That’s a big concern.”
“The Springfield City School District remains firmly committed to sustaining a safe, structured, and supportive learning environment for every student,” the Springfield City School District said in a statement sent to the I-Team. “At this time, there has been no indication of federal agency activity involving any SCSD buildings. Should circumstances change, District and building leadership will implement its established procedures to ensure full legal compliance. The District’s goal is to safeguard the school day so teaching and learning continue uninterrupted.”
In the scenario DeWine describes, some children might be able to live with extended family.
Over the last three weeks, the I-Team has reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at least five times through phone calls and emails looking for comment. As of publication, the agency has not responded with a comment.
Another outcome in the situation DeWine described could be that the Clark County Probate Court could get involved by appointing guardians for Haitian children who are U.S. citizens and whose parents are detained and deported.
But if those children have no guardianship options, that’s where Ohio’s child welfare system would have to step in.
“That will have an impact on our systems, clearly, if we have kids who are left unattended and are in need of safe environments,” Clark County Juvenile Court Judge Katrine Lancaster told the I-Team.
Judge Lancaster would have to make rulings placing children deemed dependent into the state’s custody.
For perspective, Judge Lancaster tells the I-Team it is her understanding that there are currently 17 certified foster families in Clark County.
When the I-Team checked with the Clark County Department of Job and Family Services to verify that number, the agency’s director, Tom McGrath, told the I-Team, “That sounds accurate.”
Judge Lancaster told the I-Team: “(17 foster families) is clearly not going to manage the numbers (of dependent children) that we could potentially get.”
“My role here is to ensure that kids are in safe homes and that they’re in healthy spaces and that they are given opportunities for education,” Judge Lancaster said. “So the role of the court, the role the child welfare agency in these cases, is really making sure that the kids, if they’ve been left behind, are safe and that they’re placed in safe places, and they have those opportunities for education, that their medical needs are being taken care of, and that we’re getting some permanency or finding some permanency for them. So that’s going to be the goal if this happens. And regardless of the numbers, that will be the goal that we have for each child coming through our systems.”
Clark County Children Services told the I-Team it did not have a statement for our report because, right now, “everything is speculative.”
Gov. DeWine told the I-Team he’s been meeting with local children services officials and his director of the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) over concerns that the looming TPS expiration deadline could lead to a strain on the state’s child welfare system.
“We hope we don’t have a lot of kids who don’t have parents there anymore,” DeWine said. “But we have to plan for that.”
DCY handles state oversight for local county children’s services agencies here in Ohio.
“We’re going to reach out to other counties and see what other counties can take,” DeWine said. “But every county has got the same problem: there’s not enough foster parents. Every county is basically at capacity now. So we’re going to do what we can, and we’ll reach out…. (But) it’s not easy. I mean, we have the same problem in every other county. We don’t have enough foster families for the children that we do have. So if you have a quick uptick in that, we’re going to be trying to place these kids all over the state …. We don’t know if that’s going to happen, but we have to prepare for that and assume that that might happen.”
The I-Team asked DeWine what the state, through DCY, is prepared to do to help Clark County Children Services if that scenario comes to fruition?
“We are going to help Clark with assistance,” DeWine said. “We’re going to help them with people. But ultimately, we would have to, in that circumstance, place these children in a family.”
News Center 7 will continue following this story. That includes tracking and reporting what federal courts decide in the cases challenging the cancellation of TPS for Haitians.
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