Haitian migrants changed this US town - Trump's deportation drive is reshaping it again

Springfield, Ohio, has become a political emblem in the midterm campaign, and the administration's ending of protected status for Haitians is changing it once more. President Donald Trump, who in 2024 repeated a false claim about Haitians eating pets there, told a Youngstown rally the town was being given back as Haitians leave. The Supreme Court allowed the end of Temporary Protected Status for about 350,000 Haitians in June, and more than a million people from 13 countries have lost the designation, many turning unauthorized overnight, according to BBC.

One person caught up in this was Pierre Damas Bel, 20, who came to Springfield in 2024 after fleeing unrest in Haiti. A family friend called him a student athlete and cadet. After Immigration and Customs Enforcement fitted him with an ankle monitor, he wrote of "shame and humiliation," and on 31 August he walked into highway traffic and died. His family blames the monitor. Viles Dorsainvil, co-founder of a local support center, says Bel twice asked ICE to remove it. ICE rejects blame, while the administration maintains Haiti is safe enough for return.

Summarized by PolitiKool from BBC’s reporting. Read the full story at BBC →