“So they will have to stop employing them if their legal status changes, if it goes from legal to not. So that is a big concern,” DeWine said.
The Trump administration has worked aggressively to revoke the legal status of Haitians in the U.S. on programs such as humanitarian parole and Temporary Protected Status. This includes many of the estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians in the Springfield area.
Efforts to speed up the process has been stymied by the courts. But TPS at this point is set to expire Aug. 3, and parole expires a year after it was granted to each individual and isn’t being renewed. This means work permits aren’t being renewed.
The governor noted that the impact of this will extend far beyond Springfield and Clark County.
“Many of the Haitians who live in Springfield, or who live in Clark County, don’t work here,” he said. “They might work in Versailles ... They might work in other communities sometimes 30, 40, 50 miles away. So the impact will be not just on the Springfield community, but the impact will be on other communities in the state if in fact these individuals are not able to work.”
DeWine said he has heard concerns from companies “particularly (in) the auto parts area that are manufacturing in real time for Honda and for other companies, there was a concern expressed about what that would do to production at these auto plants themselves.”
“Not only are the employers concerned about that, but the leadership of the community is concerned about that as well,” DeWine said.
Previous reporting by this news outlet found that Haitian workers in the area were continuing to come to work as long as they could, though the end of legal immigration status could leave gaps in local workforces and impact the local economy.
