The TPS ruling comes as President Donald Trump works to end protections and programs for immigrants as part of his mass deportation promises. It also comes on the heels of the Trump administration revoking legal protections for thousands of Haitians who arrived legally in the U.S. through a humanitarian parole program.
In Springfield, where around 10,000-12,000 Haitians reside, immigrants are feeling a sense of relief, said Vilès Dorsainvil, president of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center.
Moving the date to Feb. 3 gives immigrants with TPS more time to plan to leave or adjust their status to try to stay longer, Dorsainvil said. Although he does expect an appeal and said many federal judges and the Supreme Court are majority conservative.
But Haitian Springfielders who arrived to the U.S. through the humanitarian parole program and do not have another status are telling Dorsainvil that they have recently been terminated from their jobs because they no longer have work authorization.
Other local impacts:
• Federal Medicaid cuts and Ohio: As Congress continues to debate provisions in the federal budget, nearly $1 trillion in cuts could be made to Medicaid through limiting the tax that states can impose on hospitals and implementing work requirements, among other measures to limit spending. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the U.S. Senate’s version of the bill would result in 11.8 million people losing health insurance over the next 10 years, with the majority of them losing Medicaid coverage. The Health Policy Institute of Ohio estimates that nearly one in four Ohioans is enrolled in Medicaid.
• Montgomery County development: Montgomery County did not have an Economic Development/Government Equity funding round this spring, pointing to “federal and state budget uncertainties,” but county officials say they hope the development dollars can be re-marshalled this fall. Designed as an economic incentive since 1992, the program is based on countywide sales tax proceeds from participating communities. ED/GE money has helped bring Fuyao Glass America to Moraine, the Wilmer Hale law firm to Kettering, a White Castle food production facility to Vandalia — and much more.
Other federal updates:
• Education grants: The Trump administration this week withheld more than $6 billion intended for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, adult literacy and more, saying it would review the grants to ensure they align with Trump’s priorities. Trump has accused states and schools of using federal education grants earmarked for immigrants’ children and low-income students to help fund “a radical leftwing agenda."
• Tariff impact: An analysis by the JPMorganChase Institute finds a group of U.S. employers would face a cost of $82.3 billion from Trump’s current tariff plans. The findings show trade-offs from Trump’s import taxes, going against his claims that foreign manufacturers would absorb the costs of the tariffs instead of U.S. companies. While the tariffs launched under Trump have not yet boosted overall inflation, large companies such as Amazon, Costco, Walmart and Williams-Sonoma delayed the potential reckoning by building up their inventories before the taxes went into effect.
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