Those lies grew into a dark bloom of policy: this year, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed termination of TPS in February 2026, citing Haiti’s improved conditions and a Haitian immigrant presence being “contrary to the national interest.” Well, I proudly live in this city that is supposedly the emblem of the Haitians’ disservice to our “national interest” and here’s the truth: Springfield was a city in steady decline that received new life from the Haitians. Our Haitian neighbors came here legally, not under some mysterious plot.
Due to the extreme danger in Haiti, Haitians came legally to Springfield in search of jobs and affordable housing. They’re an excellent, necessary work force. Local Director of Workforce Development Amy Donahoe insists that Springfield-owned businesses consider the Haitian workforce an unequivocal asset to the community.
She says, “They are hardworking, drug free people who show up on time and provide for themselves.” She insists that the Haitians have not stolen jobs from local residents; they’ve filled jobs that were unfilled before their arrival. They are law-abiding. The Springfield Police Patrolman’s Association reported the Haitians have not contributed to rising crime rates; in reality, they’re typically the victims of violent crimes. The Clark County Health Commissioner has debunked any claims that they’ve skyrocketed disease rates. Finally, they are growing our city. I engage frequently with Haitians in Springfield. They aren’t mythical saints just because they’re immigrants, but they are people like us. They are brave, hopeful, and desire simple things – work and a safe home.
Now, I see growth in my city for the first time. I see life in previously long-shuttered houses. I know a landlord who identifies Haitians as amongst his most reliable tenants. I see shopping centers, formerly ghost-towns, teeming with shoppers. I see church plants and new businesses.
I see life breathed into our town. It is true that the Haitians’ arrival strained our resources. But, these strains are growing-pains of long needed opportunity, not heralds of decline. Cities like ours need more people, but that growth always comes at an upfront resource cost. The arrival was abrupt and there were language and cultural barriers. But it was also the arrival of 10-15,000 largely hard-working, rent-paying, drug free people who contribute meaningfully to our community.
We need these people.
As Health Commissioner Chris Cook reports, despite the strains, the Haitian community has made Springfield greater. Terminating TPS will actually cause the highest strain to Springfield. Haitians will be forcibly unemployed. For most of them, leaving Springfield is cost-prohibitive. Even if it wasn’t, Haiti is still too dangerous and there is no third country to which they can self-deport. So, they will be unemployed and stuck here. Also, since 2021, 1300 children of Haitian descent have been born in Springfield; they are US citizens.
If TPS terminates and those children’s parents are deported, we face the potential of thousands becoming wards of the state. I cannot imagine a greater strain to our community than the destruction of working families creating a new reality of broken families and unemployable residents with nowhere to go.
So, if, as in 2024, the world wants to look to Springfield as the microcosm of a national immigration conversation, then hear us loud and clear: the Haitians have breathed life, not destruction, into our declining city. Let us reveal the lie that maintaining TPS for Haitian immigrants is “contrary to national interests.” TPS termination destroys 10,000-15,000 lives of precisely those whom America and Springfield should be incentivizing. This causeless TPS termination will be an act of cruelty by the U.S, and force a miscarriage of justice and humanitarian crisis, if enforced by ICE.
For Springfield, this overnight criminalization of law-abiding, contributing people is an act of destruction from which we will suffer. The lies of 2024 painted us as a city drained by immigrants. The truth of 2026 will prove that we need these people as much as they need us. We should beg our representatives to advocate for a TPS extension. The city of Springfield hangs in the balance.
Chloe Reep is a Springfield resident.