A group of about 100 community members, clergy and Haitian leaders in Springfield, Ohio, gathered this week for several days of training sessions as they prepare to defend potential deportees and provide them refuge. “We understand that there will be people who are angry with us. We understand there are people who will accuse us. We understand that some of us could end up going to jail. We don't want that, but we don't feel that we have a choice. We feel that obedience to the gospel and obedience to God requires that we stand with them no matter what the cost,” said Carl Ruby, senior pastor of Central Christian Church. Ruby said the ultimate goal of the group is to persuade the Trump administration to reverse its decision to terminate legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the U.S. under temporary protected status, or TPS. “One way of standing with the Haitians is getting out the message of how much value they bring to the city of Springfield,” he said. “It would be an absolute disaster if we lost 10,000 of our best workers overnight because their TPS ends and they can no longer work.” In lieu of that, he said participants in the effort are learning how to help Haitians in other ways. That includes by building relationships, accompanying migrants to ICE appointments, providing their families with physical shelter or offering sanctuary inside local churches. Charla Weiss, a founding member of Undivided, the group that hosted the Springfield workshop, said participants were asked the question of how far they would go to help Haitian residents avoid deportation. “The question that I know was before me is how far am I willing to go to support my passion about the unlawful detainment and deportation of Haitians, in particular here in Springfield,” she said. Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a long-time supporter of the Haitian community, was briefed by Springfield leaders during a visit to the city Friday. He told reporters that the state is bracing for the potential of mass layoffs in the region as a result of the TPS policy change, a negative for both the workers and the companies that employ them. “It's not going to be good,” he said. The Department of Homeland Security announced in June that it would terminate TPS as soon as Sept. 2 for about 500,000 Haitians who are already in the United States, some of whom have lived here for more than a decade. The department said conditions in the island nation have improved adequately to allow their safe return. The announcement came three months after the Trump administration revoked legal protections for thousands of Haitians who arrived legally in the country under a humanitarian parole program as part of a series of measures implemented to curb immigration. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a federal judge’s order preventing the administration from revoking the parole program. Earlier this month, a federal judge in New York blocked the administration from accelerating an end to Haitians' TPS protections, which the Biden administration had extended through at least Feb. 3, 2026, due to gang violence, political unrest, a major earthquake in 2021 and several other factors.