“For many, many years, we’ve worked with a school in Haiti that’s named for our daughter, Becky, that we lost, and so we’ve been down there many, many times,” Fran DeWine said. “We actually helped establish the school because we saw the extreme poverty that they had there in Haiti.”
She continued: “So we’ve kind of watched what’s going on in Springfield, and we’ve talked to employers and people and found out, really, the employers love their Haitian workers. They said they work hard, they wanted to work overtime, they never have trouble passing a drug test. They’re just stellar workers.
“And so, we’ve been watching that. And we know that they have helped to raise the economy in Springfield. And so we’re happy that this, at least for now, that the status has not changed. And we’re happy. And, you know, we’re just all praying for good things to happen in Springfield for everyone.”
The Becky DeWine School, situated in a slum known as Cité Soleil in Haiti’s capital, has been forced to temporarily close at various points throughout its history as a result of violence, this outlet previously reported. The school was in operation as recently as September 2024. This outlet did not get an immediate response from the governor’s office regarding the school’s current status.
Temporary Protected Status
Many of Springfield’s Haitian immigrants legally live and work in the U.S. through a federal program known as Temporary Protected Status. The longstanding program allows foreigners of specific countries (in this case, Haitian nationals) to temporarily live here if the U.S. determines that their home country is too dangerous for its citizens to return.
Haiti’s TPS designation was set to expire after Feb. 3, as determined by the Trump administration, but a federal judge blocked the expiration date in a ruling that, in part, said the administration did not effectively argue that Haiti is safe enough for its citizens to return to.
On Thursday, Gov. DeWine told reporters that, in his estimation, the situation in Haiti “has never been worse.”
“This is a country (where) there’s massive unemployment; gangs are controlling most of the country, there’s violence all over the country; it’s a dysfunctional government, nothing works very well down there,” he said.
The Republican governor added that the U.S. State Department has advised Americans not to travel to Haiti due to the country’s state of disarray, and that gangs shoot guns at American planes attempting to land in Port Au Prince.
“It’s a rough, rough, situation,” DeWine said. “None of these (or) very few of these Haitians, if they have to leave, are going to go back to Haiti, they’re going to try to find someplace else. They’re not going to go back, it’s too dangerous.”
Officials within the Trump administration, who appealed the court’s decision, said TPS has been used far beyond its original intent by previous administrations.
“Haiti’s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago, it was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin posted to her X account following the judge’s ruling. “Temporary means temporary and the final word will not be from an activist judge legislating from the bench.”
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
