ICE activity in Springfield continues netting Haitian arrests | Local
Springfield ICE activity
Video shot by local pastor Carl Ruby shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Springfield Monday, Aug. 17.
Reports of increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Springfield are continuing into this week with additional arrests.
Video shot by local pastor Carl Ruby Monday, Aug. 17 shows several unmarked SUVs at a car wash near the Southern Village Shopping Center where witnesses say a person was arrested. In the video, a man in a police vest identifies himself as being with ICE.
People in the area report seeing increased suspected ICE activity around the shopping center in recent days. The strip mall includes several Haitian businesses, including a restaurant and grocery store. A Haitian resident speaking to a News-Sun reporter pointed out a vehicle waiting at a nearby gas station she said looked like one she saw pull someone over before.
“I’m stressed out,” she said.
The Springfield News-Sun has found a growing number of inmates at the Butler County Jail — the nearest ICE detention facility — with Haiti as the listed birth country. As for Monday morning, the jail had 17 people under ICE detention with Haiti as their listed birth country.
Department of Homeland Security officials on Friday said they don’t discuss ongoing or future operations, when asked about reports of increased ICE activity in Springfield.
“Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe,” the agency’s statement says.
Springfield is home to an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Haitians, an unknown number of whom became vulnerable to detention and deportation following the official revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti earlier this month.
“Temporary Protected Status is exactly that — temporary. For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent,” the statement from DHS says.
“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. The good news is it’s not too late to get a $2,600 check and a free flight home.”