The U.S. Department of Homeland Security terminated the short-term protected statuses of most Haitians nationwide a few weeks ago, after a drawn out legal battle. By local estimates, some 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants from Haiti were living in Springfield in 2024, a southwest Ohio city with a population of less than 60,000, according to census data.

A 20-year-old college student in Springfield, Ohio, was killed by oncoming traffic just weeks after ICE fitted him with an ankle monitor, according to police and his family

On social media, Bel posted that he came to the U.S. to pursue his education and was now "carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation" walking around with an ankle monitor.

A Haitian-born college student in Ohio died in what his family believes to be a suicide after he was stripped of his temporary protected status.