LEBANON, OH — The Trump administration's top immigration official said Sept. 4 his agency has made 380 arrests in Springfield, home to a large Haitian population, and "we're going to continue to push."
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said during a roundtable with local law enforcement Sept. 4 that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would also continue to use ankle monitors to track the Haitian immigrants who came under the Temporary Protected Status program.
He urged them to return to Haiti on their own. "Your country needs you," he said.
As for those who want to stay, "If you wanted to change your status, you had time to," he said. "But TPS was not permanent."
If they are deported, as opposed to leaving voluntarily,
"my goal is to make it impossible for you to come back to the country at this point," he said.
The visit comes as tensions and debate have escalated over the actions of the ICE in the region, particularly in regard to Haitians in Springfield.
Region has been at the center of the immigration issue
Springfield has become a flashpoint in the nation's immigration debate.
Mullin's visit comes days after 20-year-old Haitian immigrant Pierre Damas Bel died after being struck by a semi-truck in what friends and family say was a suicide due to the shame of being forced to by ICE to wear an ankle monitor.
Mullin said that as a father of six, he has a "tremendous amount of sympathy" for the family.
"It breaks my heart for the parents, but we were following our procedures," he said.
After the Trump administration ended their temporary protected status in July, Haitians in Springfield were told to report to the ICE office where given a choice to self-deport or wear an ankle monitor. Many of the estimated 15,000 Haitians living in Springfield were here under temporary protected status.
Discussion to center on ICE contracts
In addition to highlighting August arrests, the event focused on "the importance of 287(g) partnerships," according to the advisory.
The program in April sparked controversywhen a police chief from the small town of Gratis traveled an hour south to Cincinnati with another officer to visit three different Cincinnati Public Schools for "wellness checks" on students. The police chief told school officials they were acting on the authority of ICE. No police agencies in Cincinnati and Hamilton County have a contract with ICE. The Gratis Police chief was fired a month later and the other officer resigned.
ICE has three models of that contract:
- Jail enforcement contracts allow local officers to identify and process people in their jails for immigration offenses.
- Task force contracts grant local officers limited immigration authority while performing their own duties or participating in an ICE task force.
- Warrant service officer contracts allow local officers to serve warrants on their inmates for immigration offenses.
Jails in Butler, Clermont and Warren counties in Ohio have such contracts. Butler also has a separate agreement to detain people for ICE.
In Northern Kentucky, Kenton County has a 287(g) and a contract to detain individuals for ICE. Boone and Campbell counties have contracts to hold individuals but no 287(g)s.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said he couldn't attend due to a previous obligation. In Kenton County, jailer Marc Fields said he did not know about the Mullin event.
Greater Cincinnati jails detained about 6,000 immigrants in 2025, earlier Enquirer reporting found.
Elsewhere in Ohio, the police chief of Gratis, Ohio, was firedin May after she visited three Cincinnati schools, saying she was seeking information about students under her department's 287(g) agreement.
Mullin, 49, was confirmed as the ninth secretary of Homeland Security in March, after President Donald Trump announced that he'd fired Kristi Noemfrom that job. Noem had been under fire for her handling of deportation and alleged misuse of government funds.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trump Homeland Security chief says ICE has arrested 380 in Springfield
