It wasn’t easy for Jacson Joseph to leave behind his life as a high school English teacher in Haiti. But he says the gang violence he witnessed left him with no choice but to flee in 2021.
Since then, he’s worked hard to make Lima feel like home for his family of four.
“By living a new life in a new country, I told myself I'm a learner,” he said. “When I'm fighting, either I learn or I win. I never lose.”
Joseph was living legally in Lima under temporary protected status, or TPS — a federal designation that allows vetted people from certain countries to live and work legally in the U.S. when it's considered unsafe for them to return home, due to armed conflict, natural disaster or other extraordinary conditions.
The Trump administration has argued conditions have improved in Haiti and has taken steps to revoke the country’s TPS status. It’s unclear when protections will expire, as legal details are still being hammered out following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to allow the administration to end TPS for both Haiti and Syria.
But Joseph said it’s still too dangerous for him to return to his home country.
His life – and obligations – in Lima remain, but they’ve become harder to manage.
“We do have responsibilities [to] take care of our family members, wife and kids and myself, pay the bills,” he said. “They fired us from our job. [Whether] you are a good worker or not, they don't care about it because they just rejected the TPS.”
Uncertainty abounds
For years, immigration support groups in Lima have focused on helping the city’s estimated 5,000 Haitian residents connect to jobs, ESL classes and financial literacy courses.
That’s all shifted, said Angelica Buettner, who runs Connecting Borders, a local resettlement organization. The focus now is helping Haitians get by during these uncertain times.
“They're already having problems paying rent because of being laid off. Some of them are living together and trying to pay the expenses together,” she said. “We literally go day by day right now.”
Local community groups, like Buettner’s, are focusing on finding TPS-holders other legal pathways for residency, like asylum. But that process can take years and requires a six-month wait for a work permit.
“They’re in survival mode right now,” Buettner said.
Community response
Churches and nonprofits in the area are responding by hosting food drives, providing rental assistance and donating legal funds.
Katie Sielschott leads the Lima Newcomer Coalition, a community group devoted to assisting Haitian immigrants. She said people of all political perspectives have rallied to help.
“We are, by and large, a very conservative community but at the end of the day… if there is a need for support, most people will default to their faith to welcome people,” Sielschott said.
Many Haitians in Lima have already applied for asylum and can legally work and reside in the U.S. while their application processes. But for those who don’t qualify or choose not to apply, Sielschott said they’re planning for the possibility of increased activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Her group is coordinating with Allen County Jobs and Family Services to ensure Haitian children have guardianship if their parents are deported. She said the next phase will likely be assisting people who want to immigrate to other countries, like Canada or Chile.
“We want to make sure everybody has agency in determining what their future looks like,” Sielschott said, “and if they no longer feel safe here, if it's become too challenging, that there is a plan B.”
‘We did everything we could’
If Haitian Ohioans in Lima leave, Pastor Franck Estalus said it will be a loss for the wider community. He immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti in 2021 and started a Creole service at Elm Street Church of the Nazarene.
He said his people are a blessing, not a burden, to the small city.
“We come, we pay taxes, we work, we buy cars, we rent houses… we did everything we could,” Estalus said.
If he were able to speak with federal officials, Estalus said he would ask for help to make his home country safe again.
“I'm not going to ask for TPS. I wouldn't ask for residence. I wouldn't ask for any advantage,” he said. “I will ask you, ‘Would you be willing to be with me to change my country?’”
In the meantime, his congregation will be praying they will not be uprooted again.
