DeWine mobilizes taxpayer-funded resources to keep children of Haitian immigrants in the country
In January 2026, Ohio Gov. and First Lady Fran DeWine attended the New Perspectives on the Northwest Ordinance Conference in Columbus.
Gov. Mike DeWine says the state will be working on trying to keep the children of Haitian immigrants inside the country, in case their parents lose their legal status, as a Republican lawmaker supports deporting her Democratic colleague.
DeWine, a Republican, told the Statehouse News Bureau that approximately 1,300 children of Haitian immigrants were born at Mercy Health, a major hospital in Springfield.
DeWine added that his administration is working to ensure these children can remain in the United States if their parents lose Temporary Protected Status.
“They’re all citizens. And it creates challenges with regards—it’s down to the mom or dad to figure out what happens to the children,” he said. “We’ve already started working through Children Services and reached out to other children’s services. I think we have about 40 of them, the counties around the state, who will be there to help in any way that they can. So that’s a concern.”
DeWine also said that Ohio charity groups are working to get passports for those children.
“What do I advise people in Springfield? I don’t have great advice,” he said. “They need to just continue to follow what the law is today. Today they are legal, but that could be taken away by a court, or that could be taken away by the administration in the future, and they have no control over that.”
The recent remarks by DeWine came after a federal judge ruled that the decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to terminate Haitians’ TPS was unlawful.
On Feb. 5, the Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security officially filed the notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Meanwhile, an Ohio Republican lawmaker supported the denaturalization and deportation of her Democratic colleague, Somali-born state Rep. Ismail Mohamed, D-Columbus, after he introduced a bill to oppose the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“Wow! Right here in the ‘Heart of it all…’ Yes, my friends, he’s an Ohio Democrat representative. His naturalization oath to our country seems to be in question,” state Rep. Jennifer Gross, R-West Chester, wrote on X in response to the post by Chief Content Officer at RightLine and Florida’s Voice Eric Daugherty.
In his post, Daugherty wrote that Americans allegedly demand the naturalization and deportation of Mohamed.
“These INVADERS came here to destroy our republic,” he wrote on X. “I WANT THEM ALL GONE.”
Aside from some anonymous accounts on X, there is no evidence of the massive movement to denaturalize and deport Mohamed, as Daugherty claimed.
Mohamed and many other Ohio Democrats proposed several bills last week, including one to prohibit ICE agents from wearing masks that cover their faces.
