Temporary Protective Status is scheduled to end on Tuesday, Feb. 3, for thousands of Haitians. Those without the legal right to stay in the country will be required to leave or face deportation. Businesses won’t be able to employ them. Several groups have challenged the Trump administration’s decision to end the program, and the case is before a federal appeals court.
As the end of TPS approaches, the community has mobilized. Last weekend, church groups held sessions offering tips on what to do if ICE agents show up at their houses of worship. Other groups are distributing whistles that can be used to signal the presence of ICE. Local schools have instructed teachers to focus on education, and administrators will handle all other matters.
But no amount of action can prepare for the unknown, including:
- How many ICE officers will come to the city? Local advocates say ICE has already been there, in smaller numbers. Will it be dozens? Hundreds? Gov. Mike DeWine told the Columbus Dispatch that, if ICE comes in with a large surge, “Obviously we have to work this thing through and make sure people don’t get hurt.”
- How long will any surge last? Schools believe about 30 days, according to a memo obtained by the Springfield News-Sun.
- Who will ICE target? Following the shootings and demonstrations in Minneapolis, the White House sent Border Czar Tom Holman to Minnesota. That’s significant because he favors a less combative approach to immigration enforcement by deporting criminals and those who have been denied citizenship.
- Will there be protests? Given all the publicity, there’s a strong chance. If there are, will they consist of a few people holding signs and chanting, or will rowdy crowds pose a risk to the public and the agents? What if the clergy refuse agents entry to their churches on religious freedom grounds? Would ICE consider that obstruction and move in anyway (The constitutional issues are another question)?
- How aggressive will ICE agents be with the public? You’ve seen the photos and videos of some agents pepper-spraying and pushing protesters, actions that often incite crowds and raise tensions.
- Will local organizations that offer assistance to Haitians temporarily close? These groups help the community at large with food, clothing, and other services. What will they do?
- How much worse will the ugliness get? It’s one thing to look at the heartless and biased comments on the cesspool that’s social media. It’s another thing to listen to the stories of advocates who take the abuse themselves.
- Will there be counter demonstrations that further increase the temperature?
- How much media will show up?
- And, as I wrote about a few weeks ago, what about the children?
The immigration debate often gets framed in pro- or anti-ICE terms. The right believes liberals are making up stories about citizens being detained (they’re not), and the left believes conservatives have no sympathy for the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti (they do).
But the human toll takes a back seat, and it shouldn’t. Advocates are exhausted from long hours trying to help people prepare to leave or figure out what to do if they’re separated from their children.
DeWine, a good man and pragmatist, has said that it’s not right that the end of TPS will upend lives and a community that has relied on its Haitian neighbors.
Sadly, right has nothing to do with this. TPS is temporary, not permanent. That means people have to go, regardless of the human toll.
Ray Marcano writes the Sunday opinion column for the Dayton Daily News.
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