Where Lies Have Turned Into Hope For the Nation

In the wake of the TPS ruling, Springfield, Ohio, became a place where faith and community allowed hope to break through.

When was the last time you heard “breaking news” that was good for a change? We just heard some from Springfield, Ohio.

Springfield, a city of about 55,000 people, has been the home to thousands of Haitian refugees for some time. They arrived as the city was struggling economically and filled sorely needed jobs, after being welcomed by the city. As they joined the Springfield community, they also brought energy and vitality back to what was a fractured and declining economic disaster area. In recent years. Haitian families have helped revive workplaces, neighborhoods, urban culture, and yes, the churches too.

Despite all they have given to the area, Haitians in Springfield were on the verge of becoming the next targets for federal detention and deportation. They endured bomb threats, school evacuations, neo‑Nazi demonstrations, and a relentless campaign of lies, including Donald Trump’s false claims that they were eating people’s pets. Local officials in this Republican city and state, along with reporters, quickly debunked those absurd stories. Trump and his allies kept doubling down, repeating the lies over and over again. That is what autocrats do. They repeat falsehoods until fear leaves people with no option but to accept them as truth.

And fear was spreading.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for legal Haitian refugees was scheduled to expire this week with no plan for renewal. That would have made Haitians in Springfield and across the country immediately vulnerable to detention and deportation. ICE agents were expected to begin arrests as early as Wednesday, February 4. Families were preparing themselves for the worst.

But, for the first time in over a year, the worst did not happen.

On Monday, February 2, a federal judge halted the Trump administration’s attempt to end TPS for Haitians, giving this community a short‑term reprieve. As people waited for the decision, St. John Missionary Baptist Church was filled with people praying, singing “This Little Light of Mine,” and declaring that protecting Haitian families is a moral test for America.

In Michelle Goldberg’s piece, titled In Ohio, I Caught a Glimpse of the New Resistance, she quotes Judge Ana Reyes’s legal decision, stating, “Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants…This seems substantially likely.” A conclusion which referenced the inflammatory statement from Noem’s social media that Judge Reyes had shared at the start of the hearing, which ended with–in all caps–“WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” Goldberg interviewed Pastor Carl Ruby and local leader Viles Dorsainvil and commented, “The threatened ICE surge into Springfield underlies one of the ugliest aspects of Trump’s mass deportation campaign, which is the targeting of specific ethnic groups following cruel propaganda campaigns.”

This week on my podcast, I, too, had the opportunity to be in conversation with these two leaders at the heart of what has become a faith-based resistance. Pastor Carl Ruby leads Central Christian Church in Springfield and helped organize a “Here We Stand” gathering that drew hundreds of people to say ICE has no place terrorizing their community. Viles Dorsainvil is the executive director of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, a center created so Haitians could support each other. The center helps newcomers find housing, mentors young people, and ensures that Haitians themselves lead efforts like food distribution. Viles was also a pastor in Haiti and has become a key voice for his people as they live with constant fear of raids, family separation, and being sent back to one of the most dangerous places on earth right now.

Their shared work and insight from Springfield can help us understand that truth can overcome lies, courage can overcome fear, and faith can make a difference.

Springfield was a shrinking city until Haitian neighbors arrived. “Almost overnight,” said Pastor Ruby, “we became one of the fastest growing cities in America.” He and many in Springfield agree that Haitian refugees have strengthened the economy and renewed church life with what Pastor Ruby called“passion and…joy,” even while they faced public political attacks fueled by hatred, lies, and racism, the community insisted on caring for one another with dignity. “In some sense,” Pastor Ruby says, “they are saving our church.”

Viles shared what daily life has been like for Haitian families living under constant threat. “We came here in search of a safe haven for our kids and also to find a way to work,” he told me. “I always say, Jim, that [an] immigrant’s life is not for the weak, because most of the time you have to carry on with your life here and at the same time trying to support some of the families back home who are in danger.”

Now a lead elder in Central Christian Church (“my boss,” said Pastor Ruby), Viles described how fear seeped into every part of life for him and his fellow refugees. They were afraid to drive and afraid to go to work. Parents were strongly encouraged to sign papers assigning guardians for their U.S.-citizen children in case they were detained. As a parent, I told Viles that I can barely imagine having to accept such a cruel reality and be forced to make such a decision.

Carl described what he called “the most important day of my life,” when hundreds of people, Black and white, Haitian and non-Haitian, filled the sanctuary. They held signs that read “Community Over Fear” and “Love Thy Neighbor,” and they sang gospel songs as an act of defiance. I love that image. In Springfield, a local church became both a sanctuary and a public witness. As Carl put it, following Jesus Christ in Springfield, Ohio, suddenly became “very simple.”

This judge’s decision has, for now, placed legal limits on how far the administration can go in stripping protections from Haitians. Springfield has joined Minneapolis in becoming a model for the nation.

Springfield, Ohio, is a lesson for all of us. It is a story about resisting lies, standing with immigrant neighbors, and working for the curtailment of ICE’s cruel practices. In a time of fear and uncertainty across the country, Springfield offers something we desperately need. It offers hope.

As Carl Ruby told me, “We chose to continue addressing issues of justice no matter what happened, and God has taken care of us and blessed us as a result.” In Springfield, loving your neighbors has become both an act of faith and a courageous risk.

When I got the call from Carl about the breaking news right after the judge’s decision came down, I heard and felt his deep sense of relief, joy, and hope. The story of Springfield now fills me with all three as well. We still have a long way to go, but courage and solidarity with our neighbors are clearly the way forward.

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