Springfield, OH — Ketlie Moise fled unspeakably violence in her home country of Haiti, hoping to find peace and a piece of the American dream, and settles in Springfield, Ohio.
“I’m staying here,” Moise told CBS News. “I work two jobs to earn my business. That’s why I’m not going back to Haiti.”
Moise has been saving money for years and recently opened a restaurant. She is one of thousands of Haitian migrants who are now building a life in Springfield in the crosshairs of the incoming Trump administration. About 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians live in the Springfield area, according to city estimates.
It was during President-elect Donald Trump’s September 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris that Springfield came to the fore, when Trump repeated false and debunked claims about the Haitian migrants living there. Local officials have said there are no credible reports supporting such allegations.
Trump made the issue of mass deportations an important pillar of his presidential campaign.
“We’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country, and we’re going to start with Springfield and Aurora,” Trump said. told reporters on September 13, referring to Aurora, Colorado, another city Trump has tried to draw attention.
He announced last week that he would be tapping Tom Homan — who served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during his first term — as his so-called “border czar” to oversee that process.
Moise, like most fellow Haitians in Springfield, is through this legally Temporary protected statuswhich Trump has put an end to. The TPS program allows federal officials to provide deportation assistance and work permits to migrants from countries ravaged by war, environmental disaster or other “extraordinary” crisis.
Moise says she knows about 10 friends and neighbors who recently left Springfield, along with several restaurant workers.
She said she also learned in Springfield that her mother had been fatally shot at the family business in Haiti.
“I’m scared because my company was bombed in Haiti, I lost my mother,” Moise told CBS News. “Someone comes into the business, shoots my mother with a gun, bombs my business… If I get deported to go back to Haiti, especially for me, I’m going to die, I’m going to be dead.”
Moise’s own daughter is among those who left Springfield. Moise said when her daughter told her she wanted to leave, she considered joining her.
“Yes, I keep thinking about that. I don’t know where I’m going, but I keep thinking about that,” Moise said.
Faith fuels Moise’s motivation to stay in Springfield and run her restaurant when her business and her future hang in the balance.
“We hope everything works out the way it’s supposed to work out,” she said. “God has a way of working everything out.”
Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.
