Springfield, Ohio – At the end of his Sunday service, Springfield, the pastor of the First Hiyatian Injelical Church of Ohio, when he was kneeling, he asked the entrances and musicians to make a circle around him, There were flags of Haiti and United on both sides. State.
Many people came to listen to his guidance about his blessings and his way of dealing with federal agents in the event of raids due to the action of President Donald Trump on immigration. The other congregation stayed at home due to fear and increasing uncertainty.
“I prayed to God to protect my people,” Rev Reginald Silencex said while considering his last prayer after service. “I prayed especially for the high -tail community, and I also prayed to the United States, because Trump is our President. As a church, it is our responsibility to pray for them as he is our political leader at this time. ”
Some of Springfield’s estimated 15,000 high -witnesses are looking for consolation and divine intervention in their churches or in shops selling spiritual products. Community leaders say that many people are overwhelmed by fear that Trump will eliminate the temporary protected position program or let them end up which allows them to be legally lived in the US.
“The community is nervous.” Wils Dorsenville, leader of Springfield’s HiTian Community Assistance and Assistance Center, said. “They watch arrests in other parts of the country on TV and they do not know what is going to happen.”
Last year, Trump had falsely accused the high -toen of his neighbors of eating cats and dogs in Springfield. False rumors extended fear about partitions and anti -immigrants in a city with most white, blue collar with a population of about 59,000.
In the following weeks of his comments, schools, government buildings and homes of elected officials were targeted by dozens of bomb threats.
“Earlier, we had a different type of fear – it was a fear of vengeance, whether it was a distant right -wing, proud boys,” said Jacob Payne, the owner of the Milocon Botenica, a leader of the HiTian community and a religious shop selling height. Spiritual and natural remedies products.
“Now, there is a fear of exile. It prevents many people from going out and due to this many people have to go out, “he usually pointed to a busy commercial plaza, where his business is located and he was more calm than normal now .
Springfield has been shared by several faith leaders across the country. In many cities including New York, Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon, inter -religious groups are discussing how to provide protection and assistance to migrants in their communities, including people who do not have documents.
During his first administration, Trump clearly used abusive language to question why the US would accept the immigrants from Haiti and Africa’s “dirty countries”. His 2024 campaign was very focused on illegal immigration, often mentioning crimes committed by migrants in his speeches.
Thousands of temporary hiyatian migrants have legally come to Springfield in recent years under the TPS program, as long -standing unrest in their home country has given way to violent gangs who ruled the roads.
“Everything changed with Trump becoming President. People are still scared. Most people are living in their homes – they don’t want to go out, “41 -year -old Romain Pierre said, who settled in Springfield in 2020 as part of the TPS program after fleeing violence in his original Hati.
“I love my country, but you can’t live there; It is just terrible, “Pierre said, who works in a popular Hotian restaurant, Rose Gote, a springfield. “So where do you go back?”
Last year, his 8 -year -old daughter became ill at midnight. In his neighborhood in the capital of Port-O-Prince, there were voices of bullets and his mother felt that it was very dangerous to take him to the hospital. He died in front of the hospital entrance in the morning. Pierre could not get timely permits to return to her funeral.
“Sometimes, life is difficult,” he said that he was worried after taking leave from work.
TPS, which allows them and thousands of others to live legally in Springfield, ends in February 2026. He still hopes that Trump will take into account violence in Haiti and renew it.
He said, “Think of hatitis as Haiti is not a place to return yet.” “God talk to Shri Trump and do something for Hotian.”
The fear of the migrants was reiterated by the chairman of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, who said the Trump administration’s decisions to stop the assistance programs, deport migrants and stop refugees would be “destructive” for Haiti.
Leslie Voltaire made this comment in an interview with Associated Press in Rome on Saturday after a meeting with Pope Francis in Vatican.
Pontif and Voltaire discussed Haiti’s serious condition, where the gangs have killed citizens and are working fearlessly throughout the Caribbean nation. According to Voltaire, half of Haiti’s 11.4 million people are already hungry, and losing human help will make the situation dramatically worse.