Roadside stops, foot chases and children in hiding as ICE operations intensify in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — As demonstrators prayed, sang and called for an end to immigration enforcement outside Springfield City Hall on a recent Friday afternoon, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were detaining five Haitians on their way home from work just a few miles away.

It was the evening of Aug. 14, and about 45 residents, faith leaders and supporters had gathered at 76 E. High St. under the Haitian Creole theme “Yon Sèl Vwa,” or “One Voice.” They had come together after a 24-hour period filled with reports of ICE stops and detentions across the city to call for the release of their neighbors, due process and humane treatment for Haitians caught up in the federal agency’s mass deportation mandate.

Demonstrators prayed, sang and repeated in Haitian Creole, “N ap mache nan limyè Bondye a.”  We are walking in the light of God.

“Nou pa kapab ankò. Sekou,” shouted Celine Baptiste, a widowed mother of three. “Bondye, tande kri nou.” 

In English: “We can’t take it anymore. Help. God, hear our cries.”

Her husband Jean Jacques Baptiste was deported to Haiti in 2001 where he ended up dying in 2019 all alone without his family there. 

Fighting through her emotions, Baptiste gripped the microphone and cried out in Haitian Creole as a translator repeated her words into English. She spoke about the pain the separation caused her family.

Baptiste questioned why Haitians were suffering this way. She threw one hand toward the sky and appealed directly to God, asking when her people would finally get a break.

Her voice rose as she questioned why her people had to keep suffering. Then she broke into tears.

“Us Haitians have already endured enough,” Baptiste said in Haitian Creole, “financially, physically, emotionally and mentally, we are tired.”

In many ways, the afternoon captured the flurry of activity in Springfield, which emerged as a flashpoint in 2024 when President Donald Trump vowed to carry out mass deportations. Described by Clark County Sheriff Chris Clark as “targeted enforcement,” the federal agency has yet to confirm its actions. But Haitian residents detained in recent weeks appear to fall into the overall nationwide surge in ICE arrests and detentions that reached a record 50,000 in July alone, according to the Associated Press. 

With ICE encounters and detentions increasing, along with notices directing people to report to nearby ICE facilities for electronic monitoring, the longstanding fear and uncertainty in the community has shifted into acute pain and desperation. Overall, community leaders say, they are now trying to respond to a humanitarian and mental health crisis — including increased reports of self-harm, suicide and suicide attempts, advocates say — as loss of income becomes the norm and anxiety is compounded.

Every loved one taken into an ICE vehicle for processing, detention or possible deportation leaves behind a family, workplace, church or community that depended on them. Those absences are creating voids that neighbors, local service providers, pastors and attorneys are scrambling to fill as families seek food, housing and legal support.

“We are watching families fall apart in real time,” said attorney Jacqueline Downey, who attended the rally. 

“People are losing their husbands, their wives, their parents and the people who provide for their families,” she said. “Those left behind are asking how they’re going to pay rent, buy food or find an attorney.”

‘Targeted enforcement’ in practice 

ICE has begun “targeted enforcement” in Springfield, Clark said in an interview, and said his office is not assisting ICE with immigration enforcement.

But ICE’s presence has also been repeatedly visible at the Clark County Jail.

On Aug. 28, The Haitian Times observed ICE vehicles using the county jail garage, continuing a pattern witnessed on multiple days during the recent enforcement activity. The repeated use of the county facility raises questions about the extent of federal immigration agents’ access to the jail and what, if any, role the sheriff’s office plays in facilitating that access.

Outside the jail, what Clark described as “targeted enforcement” has become increasingly visible on Springfield’s streets and in its neighborhoods.

On Aug. 13, phone calls and WhatsApp messages began circulating among Haitian residents early in the morning, warning one another about ICE agents around Springfield.

On Aug. 20, a van carrying seven people was pulled over in front of Catholic Central School on East High Street during afternoon pickup. Five occupants were taken into custody, while a green card holder and a woman who told agents she had children at home were allowed to leave.

At about 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 20, ICE agents stopped a prominent faith leader, Gilbert Joubert Adrien, and Victor Yonel at a Sunoco gas station on South Limestone Street as the two rode in a vehicle with Yonel’s wife and another woman. 

Adrien, who has lived in Springfield for about five years with his wife and two children, serves as the Haitian Ministry Pastor at High Street Church. His detention, described as a “profound wound” by Springfield G92, a faith-based coalition, was yet another encounter that hit close to home for Vilès Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Support Center, who described Adrien as a close friend with whom he speaks regularly and had worked with for years, including distributing supplies to residents. 

Just one week prior, Dorsainvil’s younger brother was stopped by immigration agents, but allowed to continue after proving he’s a green card holder. But Adrien being carted off to a jail left Dorsainvil thinking about the people who depend on the pastor – his family and his flock.

“If he is being deported, the congregation will be here terrified and without their leader,” Dorsainvil said.

The void left in the community is a common refrain as people are plucked out of it.

Mia Perez, founder of Voices of Immigrants, ran into that question as well after fielding calls as reports spread throughout the community. She and others are confronting increasingly urgent questions from families:

“Where are they taking my husband?”

“Can you help me find a lawyer?”

“What am I supposed to do now?”

Roadside drops, foot chases, children in hiding 

The Haitian Times asked ICE via email to confirm the number of people detained, locations of enforcement activity, reasons for arrests and where detainees were being transferred. In response, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, provided a statement defending the termination of TPS and promoting the federal government’s voluntary departure program.

“Temporary Protected Status is exactly that, temporary. It’s closing time, which means you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. Get a $2,600 check and a free flight home,” said DHS.

In just a one-week period ending Aug. 21, however, The Haitian Times had documented at least 27 people who were taken into custody or processed by immigration authorities using the county jail roster, ICE’s detainee locator, eyewitness accounts and follow-up interviews with relatives, attorneys and advocates to determine the latest detention status. However, the actual number is likely much higher.

Of the known 27, five remained in custody, 12 had been released after processing with ankle monitors, eight had been transferred to other facilities or locations, and the disposition of two could not be determined at the time of reporting.

Accounts of how people are ending up in custody have sent chills and drawn tears throughout the community.

On Sunday, Aug. 22, around 5 p.m., Brian Easley, of the G92 Minister’s Alliance Indiana, said he was driving along the interstate near the Ohio-Indiana state line in Richmond, Indiana, when he saw saw a group of men, women and children standing outside pickup trucks and SUVs marked ICE.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 26, an eyewitness said they saw six SUVs carrying ICE officers pursuing a green car along Limestone Street. The witness, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said the car stopped in front of Rally’s fast food store and the driver jumped out and fled on foot. ICE agents chased him, forced him to the ground and placed him in handcuffs, the witness said. They then took the man into custody, leaving the green car behind with its door open. A tow truck later removed it.

On Thursday, Aug. 27, at Stone Crossing Apartments, according to photographer Carol Guzy, ICE agents stopped a vehicle carrying a group of Haitians. Guzy was able to capture the scene, including Patricia Pierre-Louis, a Haitian mother, weeping as ICE took two of her neighbors and co-workers into custody. 

Residents watched as the encounter unfolded in full view of the apartment complex, where children played outside and families moved through the neighborhood.

Among those watching the Aug. 27 stop was a 7-year-old, standing nearby on roller skates. The child’s parents allowed them to speak with The Haitian Times, and the child sent a message to the neighbors.

“You’re in my heart. Stay in your home and don’t come outside, they will look for you!”

On Saturday, Aug. 29, another encounter unfolded at the BP gas station near North Limestone Street and Home Road. According to an eyewitness, ICE agents rammed a vehicle before taking its driver into custody. A passenger in the car escaped safely.

The encounter came amid growing concern from residents about ICE vehicles pursuing motorists and driving aggressively through Springfield’s streets and neighborhoods.

‘Prisoners in own homes’

Nadia Jean-Jacques, social service director at the Haitian Community Network (HaCoNet) and representative appointed to the Columbus Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, said uncertainty had forced some Haitian families to put their lives on hold.

Residents who no longer had work authorization were struggling with the loss of employment, while others were afraid to drive or leave their homes, she said.

Some felt like “prisoners in their own homes,” Jean-Jacques said.

Jean-Jacques said children were absorbing that fear. Some children have talked about hiding under beds or inside laundry baskets because they fear immigration agents could take them or their parents, Jean-Jacques said.

One child she spoke with told her he did not want his parents returned to Haiti because of the horrors of running from gangs they had experienced in their area.

 “Behind every number is a human being.”

Vilès Dorsainvil, community leader

On Aug. 20, a van carrying seven people was pulled over in front of Catholic Central School on East High Street during afternoon pickup. Five occupants were taken into custody, while a green card holder and a woman who told agents she had children at home were allowed to leave.

The fears have also been visible inside residential complexes.

On Thursday, Aug. 27, at Stone Crossing Apartments, according to photographer Carol Guzy, ICE agents stopped a vehicle carrying a group of Haitians. Guzy was able to capture the scene, including Patricia Pierre-Louis, a Haitian mother, weeping as ICE took two of her neighbors and co-workers into custody.

Residents watched as the encounter unfolded in full view of the apartment complex, where children played outside and families moved through the neighborhood.

During that same period, Haitian Support Center staff said they advised a woman who called them not to open her door. She had called for guidance after hearing someone knocking and later learned ICE agents were outside, Dorsainvil said.

In another instance, the center worked to locate a man after his wife could no longer find him through ICE’s online detainee locator system. Staff eventually learned that he had been deported to Haiti the previous day on a flight that Dorsainvil said carried 161 people.

The experiences have left some families reluctant to leave their homes even for routine activities.

While mothers pleaded for help after their husbands were detained, Dorsainvil said, staff members could hear children crying in the background.

“They could not understand immigration enforcement, detention, deportation or government policy,” Dorsainvil said. “They only knew that their father was no longer there, and that the family was hurting.”

What residents are asking local officials to address, however, goes beyond immigration policy itself. They say federal operations are playing out on the same streets where people drive to work, parents take children to school and families move through their neighborhoods.

Immediate financial toll felt   

For those taken into custody, the Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Ohio, has been one main holding destination, according to jail records and accounts from families and community advocates. 

Not every encounter results in detention. Other residents received notices directing them to report to ICE offices in Blue Ash, near Cincinnati, and Westerville, near Columbus, for additional processing. That step can include surrendering passports and being placed under electronic monitoring.

Advocates said those affected included former Temporary Protected Status holders, people with pending asylum cases and some they said had already been granted asylum.

Perez and Dorsainvil are among dozens of individuals, churches and community organizations who have stepped in to help the frantic families. They are taking on everything from searching ICE’s online detainee locator and finding legal assistance to helping households facing separation and the sudden loss of income.

The effects are also rippling through Springfield’s economy. With many Haitian residents staying home out of fear of encountering ICE, their absence is being felt by households, mom-and-pop shops, midsize retailers and larger employers that rely on Haitian workers.

Perez also emphasized increased reports of self-harm and suicide attempts as fear spreads. 

On Aug. 31, a truck killed a 20-year-old Haitian man on a nearby interstate, according to local news reports. Pierre Damas Bel’s family told The Haitian Times the death was intentional, prompted by his deep distress over having to wear an ankle monitor. 

At the City Hall rally, speaker after speaker reiterated that Haitians are hardworking members of the community who pay taxes and contribute to Springfield.

“Our businesses are not working,” said Wilkens Reguste, owner of El Paso Caribbean Market in Springfield. “Our businesses need to stay open. It [the enforcement] is affecting all of us.”

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