By Donna Deitrich, Scioto Peace and Justice Member
FOR Chapter in Portsmouth, OH

In late August, I had the opportunity to travel to Springfield, Ohio with Scioto Peace and Justice, our local chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The goal was to provide assistance to those trying to help Haitian residents who have recently been the target of unjust immigration enforcement. We were a few of many who helped throughout the week with efforts that would culminate in a rally on Sunday, August 30. For me, though, the trip was both about helping and about accepting a challenge from a long time ago. 

You see, a couple years ago, as politicians made ridiculous, false claims to vilify the Haitian community, many in my community and even in my own family believed the lies as they imagined the town as a hellscape overrun by people who looked different and acted different from them. One person even challenged me to go see for myself just how bad Springfield was.  So, Saturday I went, and while I must say conditions in Springfield are dire, the hellscape that exists is not the one my loved ones imagined.

When we arrived at our destination an hour early, I met the first Haitian immigrant with whom I would converse that day. She said she was just learning English, and I was very impressed with how well she spoke. She said she was a local pastor and described some of the realities her neighbors and congregants have faced. After these people were offered sanctuary in a country built by immigrants, that promise was revoked at a time when their homeland remains unsafe.  

She described an elderly woman fitted with an ankle monitor whose leg now swells due to poor circulation. The elderly lady cried, for she was someone who had never committed a crime and had done everything government officials had asked her to do. The pastor also described families being torn apart as fathers were taken into custody and placed in detention to be deported. Immigrants who are fitted with the monitors get their right to work and drive revoked even though they came here legally and committed no crime. Haitian residents can no longer  make the contributions to the community they once did because they fear for their lives every day. We all hugged this pastor and told her how sorry we were that this is happening to her community.

We then went into the church when it was time to begin, and everyone went to the sanctuary for an orientation. Several non-Haitian faith leaders who were organizing the efforts were there, and their testimonies, too, were heartwrenching. I began talking to a local Springfield resident who had been helping Haitian neighbors in her community. She explained that Haitian parents feared sending their children to school due to the fact that ICE used the morning commute as a time to target Haitians. The parents, in turn, began getting fined for truancy because their children were missing so much school. 

She explained that one morning she had been driving a Haitian woman to work when the woman saw ICE vehicles blocking the road ahead. Fortunately, they were able to take an alternative route, but this is the everyday reality Haitians in Springfield are facing after their Temporary Protective Status was revoked by the Trump administration. Families do not feel safe going to the grocery store, to church, or to school, for going means possible family separation, detention in inhumane conditions, and deportation back to a country they had to flee for their very lives. 

One of the organizers of the event talked about how most planes will not land in parts of Haiti because it is so unsafe—all except the planes used to deport people back there, that is. He talked about people getting off of the plane and immediately running for cover knowing their lives were in danger. He also told the story of a Haitian immigrant he was working with who got a text regarding a family member still in Haiti. Somberly, he told the pastor he had just learned his cousin was burned. When the pastor asked if his cousin was okay, he said, “No, you don’t understand. He was burned alive.” 

The pastor also spoke of a young Haitian child who saw a picture of a pig. The child commented he had seen those before. When the pastor asked where, he replied, “They ate the bodies.”  That is the reality Haitians face if they go back to their home country under the current political turmoil. Yet, it seems there are those in our country who wish to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the suffering.

In addition to hearing from the faith leaders, we also heard from a woman who was a lifetime resident of Springfield. She had married a Haitian immigrant, and they were building their lives together when he was deported back to Haiti. She said they had managed to get him out and that he was somewhere safe, but what kind of life is that being away from one’s family? The injustices we heard about were sickening and heartbreaking. Though people from the far-right have painted Haitians in Springfield as barbaric and uncivilized, it seems to me that distinction instead should go to those seeking to send these vulnerable souls to torture and certain death.

The orientation ended with prayer and we were sent to our different stations to begin work in preparation for the Unshackle Springfield rally. For two hours, the group split into teams working on different needed tasks.  Some of us made signs for the Sunday rally. Others made phone calls. Those of us making signs gathered outside the building creating messages that expressed love and solidarity with the Haitian community. At the end of the two hours, we gathered again in the church to meet and pray. 

The organizers encouraged us to patronize area Haitian businesses, most of which had been heavily impacted by the atrocities being committed by our own government. They explained that wait times might be long because Haitian restaurants were severely understaffed due to the activities of immigration enforcement. We decided we would try to visit one of the Haitian establishments despite the fact that the wait might be long. Therefore, after we helped the church load supply boxes for local families, we set off to find a place to eat.  

It is at this point that I must address the ridiculous rumors spread by the current administration in the 2024 election, rumors that gave us a lot of laughs over dinner because Haitian food is awesome! We found a little Haitian restaurant, and I was very excited since I had never tried Haitian food before. As we were told, they were very understaffed, and there were eleven in our party. We got in line anyway. When it was my turn to order, I did not know what the dishes were on the menu. I explained to the cashier, a seemingly kind and helpful Haitian man, that I wasn’t sure what items were called. I pointed to a picture above the counter and said I would like something like it. 

He patiently stepped from behind the counter and helped me figure out what to order. He asked what meat I wanted, the options being chicken, pork, beef, or goat (sorry, MAGA friends with big imaginations – no cat or dog!), and I chose fried goat since I had never tried it before. I thought about the language barrier—mine in that case—and how patient the cashier was as he helped me determine what to order. I wondered if he had been shown the same kindness when he first learned English. Somehow I doubted it. He relayed my order in Creole to the employee working in the kitchen. I paid the bill and added a tip before sitting down so that the next person in our party could order.

Service was slow due to no fault of the two men working. What can you expect when your own government makes a concerted effort to destroy the lives and businesses of a whole community just trying to live? While the service may have been slow, however, what a spread it was! We started with a hearty bowl of soup as we sat questioning whether that was the main course or an appetizer. I was nearly full by the time I had eaten half of it. 

The soup did indeed turn out to be an appetizer. It was followed by a big basket of breadsticks.  Then very unexpectedly, the waiter brought us a tray of sliced watermelon and bananas to munch on as we waited. Though it took a while, they brought our main course on huge plates.  Mine was fried goat, fried plantain, and salad. It was way more than I could eat, and the other members of our party had the same experience. We all filled to-go boxes before we left.  Indeed, it was a filling and delicious meal, and one I highly recommend.

Therefore, my MAGA friends, I regret to inform you that you were wrong. Yes, Springfield has become a hellscape. No, it is not because Haitian immigrants live there. On the contrary, the Haitian people I met throughout the day are the type of folks you want living in your neighborhood: hard-working, caring, and kind. They are people just like you and me who just want to live a good life. The only difference is that they were born in a different place: a place that isn’t safe. They came to our country, strangers in a foreign land. And instead of a government that offers asylum as it should, our government is run by leaders that offer these poor souls only deportation and death.   

I am glad I got the opportunity to take this trip and to meet these wonderful people. I wish it were under better circumstances. I hope someday it can be, for I hope down the road we might live in a world that is kinder, a world where racism and xenophobia are a thing of the past. Until that day, those of us who know better than the hatred we see around us will continue to speak out.

Donna Deitrich is a member of the Scioto Peace and Justice, an FOR chapter located in Portsmouth, OH. At the end of summer 2026, the chapter visited with Haitian residents and local faith leaders for a weekend of solidarity programming in Springfield, OH. Additional perspectives can be found through Scioto Peace and Justice chapter co-chair Lorry Swain’s article, “Bearing Witness in Ohio,” which was published in September.

This week, members of the chapter will join the Ohio Haitian Solidarity Pilgrimage from Springfield to Columbus through the Unshackle Springfield immigrant justice campaign (October 21-24). Lorry Swain, who will be joining the pilgrimage, offers the following summary of the campaign’s demands: 

1) Remove the GPS leg shackles from the many, many  Haitian refugees who lawfully appeared at hearings and were then forced by ICE to accept the shackles or be immediately deported. 2) ICE out of Springfield; Haitian residents are fearful of coming out of doors because of the heavy-handed, brutal presence of ICE in Springfield. 3) Release all Haitian immigrants who are in ICE detention; it is not possible to survive in Haiti. And finally, 4) Restore Temporary Protective Status for Haitian refugees living in the U.S.

On the culminating day of the pilgrimage, FOR members are welcome to West Bank Park in Columbus (313 Main St.) on Saturday, October 24 at 1pm for a program welcoming the walkers and hearing from the Springfield Haitian community about what is needed for ongoing solidarity actions. We look forward to seeing you there!