By African Metro News | SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — August 30, 2026
The atmosphere in downtown Springfield on Sunday afternoon carried something heavier than the usual weekend quietness of an already slow town. There was frustration. disappointment, despair. And, beneath it all, a suspended anger at an immigration crackdown that residents say is separating families and unsettling neighborhoods across this Southwest Ohio city.
But there was something else, too: solidarity. Americans of different races and generations—many of them white, native-born Springfield residents—stood alongside Haitian immigrants and other newcomers to demand the release of two Haitian men detained in mid-August: Pastor Gilbert Joubert Adrien and Victor Yonel. By 1 p.m., roughly 300 people had gathered downtown, carrying placards, singing solidarity songs and marching as Springfield police officers watched from a distance.
Staging for the rally was at the First Evangelical Haitian Church of Springfield Ohio, popularly known as PEECHO. Food donations, logistics and set-up tables were then moved downtown for the rally allegedly organized by the League of Haitian Pastors in Collaboration with religious leaders. For a city that has spent the past several years being talked about nationally because of Haitian immigration, the Sunday rally presented a rather different picture. It was a peace event,
Pastor Dominique, from the League of Haitian Pastors, told the story of two elderly Haitian women arrested and scheduled for deportation: “The 52-year-old woman busted into tears when ICE officers put the shackles on her feet; while the 62-year-old started saying out -loud the Lord’s Prayer”. These women displayed courage and grief all at once as the ICE officers prepared them for deportation to their home country
Vikes Dorsainvil, a Haitian activist gave a defiant speech. Flanked on both sides by Springfield religious leaders and activists, Vikes, dressed in a blue suit, clenched his fist, raised up his arm and shouted into the microphone “Unshackle Haitian; Unshackle Springfield” The crowd thundered back,: “Unshackle Springfield” “ Vikes speech got the crowd going: “We recognize that ICE officers, have a job to do but why can’t they treat people with dignity in the course of doing their Job”. Haitians are human, Immigrants are human” He declares.
Springfield, is believed to have been host residence for roughly nearly 14000 Haitian immigrants living and working legally under TPS, until the protections for Haitians ended in late July 2026
