Several regular speakers during the public comment portion of the meeting, which is held every other Tuesday, shared similar concerns as in the past — from city transparency to Haitian immigration and a perceived lack of assimilation.
Others brought up concerns related to evacuations from all Springfield City School District schools Monday after bomb threats led to an early closure and the district to begin law enforcement sweeps of all buildings prior to and after school each day beginning Tuesday.
“We need a protocol for the evacuation when something happens like this at our schools because it was a mess,” resident Devon Hendricks said. “It was a mess at the school, so we need to figure out how we can do that smooth.”
Commissioner Chris Wallace, who is also a community mentor supervisor at The Dome, said that administrators were reviewing the evacuation process to ensure it would be “calm and orderly.” He said that parents play a part in that, too.
“A lot of it is on us as parents. I’m a parent as well, and when I got all that (notification of the dismissal), I was like, ‘No, give me my son,’” Wallace said. “It’s very important that we all try to stay calm with it.”
There was a second round of bomb threats in Springfield Tuesday, this time sent to Clark State College, Wittenberg University and the Clark County Department of Job and Family Services.
These threats followed bomb threats Monday to several downtown Springfield public offices and the Springfield City School District that referenced pipe bombs and said Haitian immigrants should be gone from the city, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said at a press conference Monday.
Resident Sandra Holland asked for clarity on the bomb threats and their origin. Clark County Sheriff Chris Clark said Monday those threats appeared to originate from overseas.
DeWine on Monday referenced a slew of bomb threats several Springfield government offices, schools, businesses and people received in late 2024 after Springfield was thrust into the national spotlight when baseless rumors that Haitians were eating pets went viral. Most of those threats came from overseas, DeWine said
Resident Larry Barnett said he feels the city has become extremely polarized and that many of the people who speak during commission meetings “have a lot of talk and no bite behind it or no action behind it.”
Barnett said that the community will need to “pick up the pieces” after any potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement action.
“We need to start taking a proactive approach and looking at these things of how we can reach into the community,” Barnett said. “How we can bring people together again? How we can convince each other to quit talking so much and listen?”
An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people from Haiti live in the Springfield area, and many are Temporary Protected Status holders. TPS was previously set to end after Feb. 3, but a judge paused that while a lawsuit challenging the move goes through the courts; the ruling postpones the end of TPS for Haiti indefinitely while the case proceeds.
The Trump administration on Friday filed an appeal in the case and on Tuesday the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it did not have immediate and specific plans to mobilize immigration officers to places with large Haitian populations.
But DHS Assistant Director for Field Operations Liana Castano said there have been daily ICE enforcement activities in locations including “but not limited to” Springfield and Florida.
Assistant Mayor Tracey Tackett said she would like to hear more positive feedback from Springfield residents on what they like about the city.
“As Larry said, we are so polarized and we need to bring people together and heal this community,” Tackett said.
Credit: Jessica Orozco
Credit: Jessica Orozco
Resident James Blanken encouraged the commission to govern more proactively rather than reactively. He also said he was concerned about the safety of ICE agents if they were not allowed to be masked.
The city commission two weeks ago passed a resolution asking federal agents to follow the same local rules as other law enforcement, which includes having clear identification and not concealing their identity. Mayor Rob Rue said Tuesday that was for the safety of all members of the community.
Hendricks, who has been a vocal supporter of the Haitian community, said that some regular speakers represent the minority of people, who he called “racist people.”
He appeared to be alluding to one specific regular speaker, Diana Daniels, who in her comments Tuesday said she and others were tired of “once homogenous neighborhoods” being “infiltrated with foreign national neighbors from deeply third world countries” who “do not share our language or values nor our morals.”
Daniels noted that the majority of Springfield voters voted for President Donald Trump in 2024.
DIG INTO OUR HAITIAN COVERAGE
Clark County Sheriff’s Office to ‘maintain the peace’ as TPS ends, will not enforce immigration laws
WATCH: Haitian restaurant in Springfield struggles as federal protections near expiration
• What’s coming?: After some initially warned of an anticipated 30-day ICE surge following the end of TPS, school and state officials stressed they have had no direct communication with the feds about potential enforcement actions, but they are preparing for the possibility.
• A community in fear: Reporter Cornelius Frolik traveled the streets of Springfield with a translator and spoke to more than a dozen Haitian people living and working in the Springfield area. Most of them expressed feelings of uncertainty and dread about the TPS cancellation.
• Lawsuits: Area Haitians on TPS are pinning their hopes on a couple of lawsuits that challenge the legality of the federal government’s decision to cancel the TPS designation for Haiti. Here are the details on those lawsuits, including one involving a Springfield man.
• Keket: Our reporters sat down with a local restaurant owner concerned that immigration enforcement fears could close her business. Her compelling personal story is captured in writing and video here.
• Residents prepare: More than 80 people took part in an educational event at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Springfield Thursday evening, learning about their rights and those of their neighbors regardless of immigration status.
• Law enforcement: Local law enforcement officials say they will work to “maintain the peace” amid any ICE surge, but they won’t enforce federal immigration law.
• City leaders: The Springfield City Commission unanimously passed a resolution asking federal immigration agents to follow local rules when conducting enforcement activities.
• Politicians react: Our statehouse reporter Avery Kreemer reached out to politicians who represent Dayton and Springfield at the state and national level about their views on ending TPS and an ICE surge. Read that story here.
• How we got here: We have been reporting on the growth of the Haitian population in Springfield and its effect on the community for years. This story from the archive explains why so many Haitians relocated to Springfield, Ohio.
• Community survey: In addition to reporters interviewing residents on the street, we created an online survey to gather community perspective. I’ll have a summary of responses in an upcoming story.
• Dayton action: Several Dayton restaurants and other businesses closed Friday and hundreds of people gathered in front of U.S. Rep. Mike Turner’s Dayton office as part of the nationwide protest of ICE operations.
• Springfield City Hall, school, county hit by threats tied to Haitian immigration concerns
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