Ankle monitors shake Ohio Haitians as deportation resumes
Haitians in Ohio are being required to wear ICE ankle monitors as deportation protections expire, leaving Springfield-area families feeling shaken and shackled while federal removal flights to Haiti resume after courts cleared the final legal barriers blocking mass deportation of TPS holders. The New York Times reports the tracking devices have intensified fear in a community already facing the end of Temporary Protected Status.
Key Takeaways
- Federal judges lifted the last deportation stays blocking DHS after a June Supreme Court ruling limited court review of TPS terminations.
- The first post-TPS deportation flight carried 161 people to Cap-Haitien, Haiti, on Thursday, according to CNN.
- Haitians in Ohio describe feeling physically shackled by ankle monitors as deportation enforcement accelerates.
- Locals in Cap-Haitien say hospitals and infrastructure cannot absorb a large influx of returnees.
- Roughly 350,000 Haitians in the U.S. lost TPS protections that had shielded them from removal and granted work permits.
Why Are Haitians in Ohio Wearing Ankle Monitors Now?
According to The New York Times, Haitians in Ohio—particularly around Springfield—are being fitted with ankle monitors by immigration authorities, leaving residents feeling shaken and shackled. The reporting comes as Temporary Protected Status for Haiti expired following a Supreme Court decision in June that determined courts could not review the administration's move to end protections.
The Hill reports that lower court judges have now fully lifted remaining limitations on the Department of Homeland Security, removing the final roadblocks to deportations for TPS holders from Haiti and other designated countries. More than 1.3 million protectees either have lost or are likely to soon lose their legal status.
What Changed After Courts Lifted TPS Deportation Stays?
The Supreme Court's June ruling did not end the TPS program outright but held that federal courts lacked power to review the administration's decision to terminate protections for citizens of Haiti and Syria—two nations marked by violence. Lower courts that had temporarily blocked deportations were forced to reexamine those orders.
A federal judge lifted the final stay barring deportations to Ethiopia earlier this week, which The Hill identified as the last of various challenges by TPS recipients. On Thursday night, the Trump administration conducted its first deportation flight to Haiti since protections ended—a flight that immigrant advocate Guerline Jozef said carried roughly 170 people.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin posted on social media Thursday morning, writing, "It's a great day to deport illegal aliens. Good morning America!" hours before the flight departed, CNN reported.
Where Are Deportation Flights Sending Haitians?
CNN reported that 161 people descended from a charter flight in Cap-Haitien on Thursday, according to Haiti's National Migration Office. Some kissed the ground; others covered their faces and hurried away from press gathered at the airport.
Cap-Haitien sits on Haiti's northern coast, far from gang violence centered in Port-au-Prince, where U.S. commercial flights remain banned through early September. The Trump administration has argued Haiti is safe enough for returns despite a State Department "Do not travel" advisory. Mullin told CNN the advisory reflects kidnapping risks to Americans, not conditions for Haitians.
Can Cap-Haitien Absorb Returning Deportees?
Residents told CNN the city is already overwhelmed. Mechanic Demonstène Reynold said Cap-Haitien alone cannot receive more people, noting internal displacement from political crisis elsewhere in Haiti. Hospital Fort Saint Michel administrator Louis Ronald Espoir said regional medical facilities are at capacity.
Former mayor Angie Bell estimated the city's population has surged from roughly 350,000 in the 2003 census to at least 800,000, with housing shortages pushing workers to the outskirts. Jean Négot Bonheur Delva, head of Haiti's migration agency, said one Thursday arrival had never visited Haiti—born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents before moving to the U.S.
For Ohio families now tracked by ankle monitors, the pipeline from Springfield to Cap-Haitien underscores how quickly deportation policy is moving from courtroom rulings to real-world consequences. Track related enforcement and policy shifts in our Fintech & Crypto Alerts coverage hub.