DeWine says Trump is wrong to target Haitian migrants for deportation

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Donald Trump is making a mistake by moving to ramp up arrests and deportations of Haitian migrants, putting a Republican governor publicly at odds with the president over how mass deportation plans would work on the ground.

In an interview with Camilo Montoya-Galvez, DeWine said, “Haiti is hell today,” and argued that deporting Haitians would mean sending people “back to hell.” His comments turned on a practical question, not just a political one: whether federal immigration enforcement can be squared with the conditions Haitians would face if removed from the United States.

The clash comes after Springfield, Ohio, became a national flashpoint in 2024 when false claims about Haitian immigrants spread there. On Sept. 11, 2024, DeWine said Trump’s claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating people’s pets came from “the internet” and added that “the internet can be quite crazy sometimes.” He later described the baseless allegations as “garbage” and condemned hate groups that marched in the city. False rumors and threats followed, and Springfield increased security.

DeWine has also argued that Haitians in Springfield came to work and that ending their legal status would damage Ohio’s economy. That legal status, Temporary Protected Status, allows eligible migrants to live and work in the United States temporarily. The Trump administration sought to end TPS for Haitians, and the Supreme Court allowed that move to go forward in June 2026, raising the stakes for Haitian communities in Ohio and beyond.

On June 28, DeWine called the effort to eliminate TPS for Haitians “wrong” and urged the administration to reconsider. His warning now lands alongside reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing to expand arrests and deportations of Haitian migrants, including in Ohio communities with large Haitian populations such as Springfield.

The fight exposes a hard test for Republican unity. Trump’s immigration rhetoric promises broad deportations; DeWine is arguing that the policy collides with Haitian displacement, local labor needs and the realities of cities that have already absorbed thousands of newcomers.