COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s governor is sending police and millions of dollars in health care resources to the city of Springfield as the city grapples with a surge in temporary Haitian migrants, putting the city in the national spotlight.
Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program, under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities.
His press conference came just hours before the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump, where divisions over immigration policy were sure to be an issue.
On Monday, Ohio’s Republican Attorney General Dave Yost also drew attention to the crisis when he ordered his office to explore legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending “an unlimited number of migrants into Ohio communities.”
Thousands of temporary Haitian migrants have landed in the city in recent years as long-running unrest in their home country has given way to violent gangs that rule the streets.
Ohio has already provided Springfield with additional funding to help with driver education and training, pay for more vaccines and health screenings in schools and improve translation services, DeWine explained. But he is taking additional action.
“These dramatic surges are impacting every citizen of the community, every citizen,” he said, noting that there is an additional surge in Findlay and Lima, Ohio. “Mothers having to wait in a waiting room for hours with a sick child, everyone driving down the street, and it’s impacting children going to school in more crowded classrooms.”
On Wednesday, the Ohio State Highway Patrol will be dispatched to help local law enforcement with traffic problems that officials say have been caused by an increase in Haitians unfamiliar with U.S. traffic laws using the roads. DeWine said he is also setting aside $2.5 million over two years to provide more primary health care through the county health department and private health care facilities.
DeWine’s family runs a charity in Haiti in honor of their late daughter, Becky, who died in a car crash. He said Haitians who have moved to Ohio are generally hardworking people who love their families and are trying to escape violence in their home country for good jobs in Ohio.