ICE made 380 arrests in Springfield, home to large Haitian population
Updated Sept. 4, 2026, 1:36 p.m. ET
- Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE has made 380 arrests in Springfield, Ohio, and will continue to use ankle monitors on Haitians.
- Mullin stated the agency is not responsible for the recent death of a Haitian immigrant, which family members attribute to the shame of wearing an ankle monitor.
- The Homeland Security Secretary defended law enforcement “wellness checks” at schools, claiming they are to locate missing and trafficked children.
LEBANON, OH — The Trump administration’s top immigration official said Sept. 4 his agency has made 380 arrests in Springfield, home to a large Haitian population, and “we’re going to continue to push.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue using ankle monitors to track Haitians who came under the Temporary Protected Status program, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters Sept. 4 during a visit to Warren County.
“Because you’re on probation,” said Mullin, while at a roundtable with local law enforcement at the Warren County Sheriff’s office. “We want to make sure we know where you’re at so you show back up to your court.”
He urged them to return to Haiti on their own. “Your country needs you,” he said.
As for those who want to stay, “If you wanted to change your status, you had time to,” he said. “But TPS was not permanent.”
If they are deported, as opposed to leaving voluntarily, “my goal is to make it impossible for you to come back to the country at this point,” he said.
The visit comes as tensions and debate have escalated over the actions of ICE in the region, particularly regarding Haitians in Springfield.
Mullin said feds not responsible for Pierre Damas Bel’s death
Mullin’s visit comes days after 20-year-old Haitian immigrant Pierre Damas Bel died after being struck by a semi-truck in what friends and family say was a suicide due to the shame of being forced by ICE to wear an ankle monitor.
Mullin said Bel’s apparent suicide won’t spur Homeland Security to consider exceptions to the ankle monitors. He said as a father of six, he has “a tremendous amount of sympathy” for Bel’s family but called suicide “a mental illness.”
“It breaks my heart for the parents, but we were following our procedures,” Mullin said. “We did our job. What happened when he went home, he wasn’t in our custody; we’re not responsible for that.”
After the Trump administration ended their temporary protected status in July, Haitians in Springfield were told to report to the ICE office where given a choice to self-deport or wear an ankle monitor. Many of the estimated 15,000 Haitians living in Springfield were here under temporary protected status.
Discussion centered on ICE contracts
Prior to taking questions from the media, Mullin and local law enforcement focused much of the discussion on the local contracts some local law enforcement have with ICE and efforts by local law enforcement working with ICE. Known as 287 (g) program, the sheriff’s offices in Butler, Clermont and Warren counties in Ohio have such contracts. No police agency in Cincinnati or Hamilton County have any such contracts with ICE.
The program in April sparked controversy when a police chief from the small town of Gratis traveled an hour south to Cincinnati with another officer to visit three different Cincinnati Public Schools for “wellness checks” on students. The police chief told school officials they were acting on the authority of ICE.
The Gratis Police chief was fired a month later and the other officer resigned.
Officers from agencies taking part in the program can’t go outside their jurisdiction, ICE officials at the roundtable said on Sept. 4. Mullin said officers participating in the program do “wellness checks” at schools to locate children being trafficked.
Mullin claimed that 450,000 kids were lost “under the Biden administration” to labor and human trafficking. He said officers are going to schools to locate missing kids, which he said is a priority of President Trump.
“So yeah, we’re going to schools to find out ‘Are these kids there?’” he said. “Because that’s where they were last reported. If they’re there and they’re safe, great. Are we there to make arrests? Absolutely not. We’re there to find these kids.”
A 2024 report from the Department of Homeland Security found that while many migrant children don’t appear in court, it’s not because of sex or labor trafficking. For 291,000 children, Homeland Security hadn’t sent them a notice to appear in court, according to the report.
Mullin bashed Hamilton County
Mullin and others at the roundtable bashed Hamilton County officials for not cooperating with ICE.
“It doesn’t stay in Hamilton County,” Mullin said. “It bleeds into counties like Warren County, and they have to deal with the issues.”
In addition to Mullin, the roundtable included Republican U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, Warren County Sheriff Barry Riley, Capt. Brian Payne with the Warren County jail and several other Homeland Security and ICE officials.