“We’re here today to stand in solidarity with the Haitian community. We demand that the protective status of Haitians stay permanent,” said Thomas Pedrotti, a member of the Party of Socialism and Liberation and organizer of the Dayton rally. “As you can see, anyone can become a target.”
Pedrotti likened the move to lift TPS status and deport Haitians or any other immigrant group to “ethnic cleansing.”
Springfield has become Ohio’s focal point for the national immigration debate.
An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people from Haiti live in the Springfield area, many of whom are TPS holders.
Immigration agents were expected to descend upon the city when TPS expired after Feb. 3.
U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes ruled Feb. 2 that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem failed to follow the law when she terminated Haiti’s TPS designation, halting any effort to remove the people. DHS appealed the judge’s ruling and vowed to take the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.
More than 125 people stood in sub-freezing temperatures on Dayton’s Courthouse Square waving handmade signs, chanting, and denouncing the Trump administration’s handling of immigration.
A lady who identified herself as “Lilly” with the Democratic Socialists of America, said what’s going on in Springfield and what happened with the deaths of two people in Minnesota that involved federal agents is not about national security.
“We all know this has nothing to do with keeping America safe and everything to do with xenophobia and racism,” she said. “It’s a targeted fear campaign to tear apart immigrant communities.”
Four Dayton Police patrol vehicles stopped to check on the rally. An officer said there were no incidents.
“Stand with Haitians” demonstrations were scheduled to run simultaneously in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Akron and Toledo.
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