haitian immigrants
Hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the U.S. are living in uncertain times. On June 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could proceed with a plan to end Temporary Protected Status—a federal program that allows people to stay in the United States when the government considers their own country unsafe—for around 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. Their work permits are scheduled to end July 24, leaving TPS holders at risk of deportation.
This uncertainty is not new. In 2010, President Barack Obama granted TPS to Haitians living in the U.S. after an earthquake killed approximately 200,000 people in Haiti. The original period was 18 months, but TPS has been renewed multiple times because of humanitarian concerns, gang violence, and political unrest.
THIS TALE BEGINS with two Ohio politicians — one famous, the other relatively unknown outside Springfield.
For J.D. Vance, the city was a cudgel, useful in creating a media storm that would attract anti-immigrant supporters to his 2024 race for U.S. vice president. For religion scholar Warren Copeland, Springfield was home, a place to promote the policies that attracted immigrants to Springfield, where he served as mayor from 1990 to 1994 and from 1998 until his retirement in November 2023. Copeland was also a professor of ethics and director of the Hagen Center for Civic and Urban Engagement at Wittenberg University.