A Community Leader Fights for Haitians in Ohio, While Worrying About His Own Fate

Viles Dorsainvil, co-founder of Haitian Support Center, poses for a picture at his office in Springfield, Ohio, on July 29, 2026. —Jim Vondruska—Reuters Viles Dorsainvil doesn't have time to think about his own future.

His days are filled with responding to increasingly frantic calls from fellow Haitians in Springfield , Ohio, where he is a community leader known for helping make sense of immigration issues.

Then he spends his evenings up late, often until midnight, working on his own schoolwork, as he pursues dual master's degrees in public administration and international relations at Wright State University near Dayton.

Amid this hectic pace, Dorsainvil, 40, is grappling with the same situation as many of those around him.

He came to the U.S. in 2020 under what’s known as Temporary Protected Status , or TPS.

Last week, a federal court confirmed that the Trump administration's bid to end TPS for Dorsainvil and roughly 330,000 other Haitians had succeeded, setting the stage for scores of deportations in the coming months.

In recent weeks, Haitians across the country have received a stark warning from the Department of Homeland Security: accept $2,600 and return to Haiti, or refuse and be fitted with an ankle monitor, allowing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to easily detain them for deportation at any point in the future.

Some Haitians are preparing to flee to another country.

Others are resigned to returning to Haiti.

Dorsainvil has yet to receive a letter from DHS.

He is trying to keep from becoming overcome by fear, especially while others in the community still depend on him.

But his precarious situation feels untenable.

"I don't know which plan I should have," he says.

In Springfield, fear of this moment has been rooted deeply in the community's psyche since the last presidential campaign, when Donald Trump and JD Vance helped spread false rumors about Haitian migrants eating residents' pets in Springfield.