This includes many of the estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians in the Springfield area. But DeWine said the impact of changes to these immigration statuses will spread far past Clark County.
“Many of the Haitians who live in Springfield, or who live in Clark County, don‘t work here,” DeWine said while visiting Springfield. “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.”
Here’s what’s happening in southwest Ohio:
- NATO in Dayton: The arrival of NATO delegates attending the Parliamentary Assembly saw the shutdown of much of downtown Dayton. Motorists and pedestrians alike on Wednesday had to find new ways to get to work or meetings in the city’s core. Dayton Daily News reporters were on the ground of the event in its beginning days, meeting people traveling from other nations and checking in with downtown residents about their concerns.
- Trump tax bill: U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, was one of only two GOP lawmakers to break ranks and vote against the federal budget backed by President Donald Trump. Davidson expressed concerns with the budget adding to the national debt. “I cannot support this big deficit plan,” he said. Other Ohio Republicans backed the bill, which extends tax cuts expiring at the end of this year and includes a plan to end federal taxes on both tips and overtime pay. Every Ohio Democrat voted against the plan, condemning cuts in Medicaid and federal food programs while providing tax cuts for the rich.
- Federal pension changes: U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, backed the federal tax bill only after it was amended to remove a GOP requirement for higher contributions by federal employees to their retirement. Also removed was a plan to calculate retirement benefits by using the highest five years of a federal worker’s salary. That will remain at the highest three years of pay.
- Golden dome: Trump put Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael A. Guetlein in charge of a project to create a “Golden Dome” defensive shield for the United States and its global hemisphere. Guetlein knows the Dayton area well, having multiple former posts at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base over his career and a master’s degree from Wright State University.
Other federal updates:
- COVID vax changes: The Trump administration announced plans to limit approval for seasonal COVID-19 vaccines to adults 65 and older, as well as others at high risk, pending more data on everyone else. It’s unclear what the upcoming changes mean for people who may still want a fall COVID-19 shot but don‘t clearly fit into one of the categories. Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows more than 47,000 Americans died from COVID-related causes last year.
- Revenge porn bill: Trump and First Lady Melania Trump signed the Take It Down Act, which would impose penalties for online sexual exploitation. The president said the prevalence of images made using AI means that “countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will.” Trump in March said he was looking forward to this bill’s signing, saying he was going to use the bill for himself because “nobody” gets “treated worse” than he does online.
- Biden’s cancer diagnosis: Former President Joe Biden’s office announced that he was diagnosed with an aggressive stage of prostate cancer. Trump, a longtime political adversary, posted on social media that he was saddened by the news and “we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.” Biden’s health was a large concern among voters during his presidency.
- Habeas corpus?: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this week said the constitutional provision that allows people to legally challenge their detention by the government is also a tool Trump’s team can use in its crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border. She called habeas corpus “a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their rights.” Habeas corpus is the right to be brought before a judge to prove your detention or imprisonment is lawful, according to Cornell Law School. Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has said the administration is “actively looking at” suspending this principle.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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