ICE won’t go to Springfield for now, as federal judge blocks TPS termination

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will not be going back to Ohio any time soon to deport Haitians from Springfield after a federal judge ruled that the decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to terminate Haitians’ Temporary Protected Status is unlawful.

Multiple Haitian TPS holders filed the federal lawsuit, alleging that the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump decided to cancel Haiti’s protected designation because Haitians are black, adding that the termination of their TPS was unlawful, The Springfield News-Sun reported.

In her ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes for the District of Columbia, nominated by former President Joe Biden, cited the words of President George Washington that are in support of America receiving “not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religion.”

She then criticized Noem for her rhetoric that contradicts the law and Washington, citing Noem’s Dec. 1, 2025, post on X.

“I just met with the President. I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies. Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom—not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS,” Noem wrote. “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.”

Reyes stated that the five plaintiffs from Haiti are not “killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies,” citing their academic degrees and jobs that contribute to the American economy.

Reyes also pointed out the hypocrisy of the Trump administration that dismisses the danger of going back to Haiti while telling U.S. citizens not to travel to the country due to “kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care.”

“‘Do not travel to Haiti for any reason’ does not exactly scream, as Secretary Noem concluded, suitable for return,” Reyes said.

In her conclusion, Reyes said that Noem has neither facts nor the law on her side, adding that she is “constrained by both our Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program.”

“By accompanying Order, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for a Stay,” Reyes wrote.

Assistant Secretary of the DHS Tricia McLaughlin responded to the decision by saying that the Trump administration plans to appeal.

“Supreme Court, here we come,” she wrote on X. “This is lawless activism that we will be vindicated on. Haiti’s TPS was granted following an earthquake that took place over 15 years ago. It was never intended to be a de facto amnesty program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades.”

U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, also criticized Reyes’s decision, pointing out that it is not “Permanent Protected Status” and saying that “this outrageous decision cannot stand.”

“When a Democrat president can create a TEMPORARY program and an unelected Democrat judge can unilaterally block a duly-elected Republican president from ever undoing it, we do not live in a democracy,” he wrote.

The Hill reported that an appeals court ruled at the end of January that Noem illegally ended deportation protections for Venezuela and Haiti.

Before Reyes made the decision, Gov. Mike DeWine said Ohio was preparing for a potential ICE visit. He also criticized the decision to deport Haitians because of their contributions to the American economy. The Springfield News-Sun previously reported that Springfield has the worst job losses in Ohio, claiming that the mass deportations of Haitians from the town would only make it worse.

Meanwhile, Noem announced on Monday that she will deploy body cameras to every ICE officer in the field in Minneapolis.

“As funding is available, the body camera program will be expanded nationwide. We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras for DHS law enforcement nationwide,” she wrote. “The most transparent administration in American history—thank you @POTUS Trump. Make America Safe Again.”

Trump agreed with the decision, saying that the body cameras “generally tend to be good for law enforcement because people can’t lie about what’s happening.”

Americans, many of whom are in Ohio, have been urging the Trump administration to force all ICE officers to wear body cameras, which prompted some Republicans to use this as a compromise so that Democrats would agree to fund the agency.

ICE Director Todd Lyons previously said they are still “in the process of deploying body cams for all law enforcement officers” due to insufficient funding.

With approximately 22,000 ICE field agents currently deployed, equipping all ICE officers with body cameras would cost more than $33 million, according to studies.

Ohioans also advocated that ICE agents remove their masks, with officials in Springfield and Columbus the most outspoken. Several public universities in Ohio also released guidelines for when ICE agents visit their campuses.