ICE Fits Springfield Haitians With Ankle Monitors

Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are being ordered to report to ICE offices, where their passports are taken and they are fitted with GPS ankle monitors, according to local advocates and attorneys.

The check-ins follow the end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians on July 27, after the Supreme Court cleared the Trump administration in June to strip the protection from more than 300,000 people.

Letters are directing people to ICE offices in Blue Ash, near Cincinnati, or Westerville, near Columbus, the Ohio Capital Journal reported.

The Numbers

About 15,000 Haitians live in Springfield, a mix of TPS holders, citizens and other legal statuses, according to city figures cited by the Ohio Capital Journal. About 30,000 Haitians with temporary status live in central Ohio.

More than 1,000 children born in Springfield with American citizenship have Haitian parents, the Ohio Capital Journal reported. Springfield City Schools declined to comment.

Carl Ruby, pastor of Springfield's Central Christian Church, said only Haitians in Springfield are being fitted with monitors so far. "What you're seeing in Ohio is a Springfield focused effort," he said.

Maqueli Eldredge, a paralegal at Legal Immigration Services in Dublin, Ohio, said ICE detained 35 people in central Ohio between Aug. 5 and Aug. 10, including four Haitians.

What the Monitoring Requires

Ruby, who has accompanied Haitians to the Blue Ash office, said passports are collected at the appointment and ankle monitors are fitted that track a wearer's location and limit travel to a radius of about 75 miles. People are then told to return when summoned, which he said is expected every three to four weeks.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that the requirements have included ankle monitors, passport collection and, in some cases, a government tracking application.

Immigration attorney Katie Kersh, of the Ohio law firm Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, told NBC News her clients were arrested but not held long term. "They all have these ankle monitors and they're not allowed to travel outside of a 75-mile radius from their home," she said.

What the Government Says

DHS declined to comment on the ankle monitors. "DHS does not discuss ongoing or future operations," a spokesman said in a statement to NBC News.

A senior DHS official told NBC News the monitors are being used largely because there is not enough detention space to hold the more than 300,000 Haitians who lost status; ICE is currently holding about 65,000 people in detention nationwide. The monitors let people remain in the country until an immigration judge decides whether they have a legitimate basis to stay, such as an asylum claim.

The department's message to those who lost status, the DHS spokesman told NBC News: "What we would say now is it's closing time, which means you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."