SPRINGFIELD — A help center is working to guide Haitian migrants facing uncertain futures.
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This comes as around 15,000 Haitians who live and work in Springfield must leave by Aug. 3.
“What I don’t understand is the lack of empathy or sympathy towards the folks from Haiti or towards the immigrant community in general,” Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of Haitian Community Help and Support Center, said.
Dorsainvil said he wants to guide the Springfield migrant community through this time, where their legal protections are coming to an end in the United States.
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“We’ve been receiving some phone calls, so many phone calls, and we have decided to have a legal clinic tomorrow, Saturday, where some of them will have time to come and ask questions to an immigration attorney,” Dorsainvil said.
He said migrants are worried about their livelihood in Springfield.
Gov. Mike DeWine and Springfield city leaders said fewer Haitians can impact the city’s economy.
“Their presence here in the community helps the workforce to keep moving forward. So I think there will be an economic impact on the community if it happens that they are in removal proceedings or they are deporting them,” Dorsainvil said.
Along with fewer legal protections, Haitian nationals are now banned from entering the U.S.
“They put Haiti on that list because of the insecurity, and even the US embassy cannot operate properly in Haiti,” Dorsainvil said.
The center is inviting anyone with questions to their legal aid event on Saturday.
There will be more events like that leading up to Aug. 3.
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