TPS Is Over: ICE Arrests About 300 Haitians in Ohio

Haitians who lost Temporary Protected Status (TPS) have had several weeks to report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Those who did not may soon get a visit instead.

Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported Friday evening that ICE has arrested "roughly 300 Haitian nationals" in Ohio in recent days, according to a federal source. The agency is now considering a shift toward actively locating and arresting those who did not report to ICE offices after their protected status expired.

NEW: I’m told by federal source that ICE has arrested roughly 300 Haitian nationals in the state of Ohio alone in recent days, as the agency is now considering transitioning into a find & arrest approach after giving Haitians several weeks to turn themselves in to ICE offices…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 21, 2026

NEW: I’m told by federal source that ICE has arrested roughly 300 Haitian nationals in the state of Ohio alone in recent days, as the agency is now considering transitioning into a find & arrest approach after giving Haitians several weeks to turn themselves in to ICE offices since TPS officially ended on July 27th.
I’m told to expect arrests of Haitians to begin to significantly ramp up soon as ICE starts to prioritize tracking down those who never checked in.

That number, 300 arrests in a single state in just a few days, signals that the passive phase is over. The grace period, during which former TPS holders were expected to self-report, has run its course. ICE is now moving to a find-and-arrest posture, going after those who ignored the window entirely. Sources tell Melugin to expect arrests to ramp up significantly in the coming days as the agency shifts its focus toward tracking down those who never checked in.

Federal officials had already flagged Ohio as a priority target. Springfield's large Haitian population made it an obvious starting point, and ICE planned from the outset to arrest former TPS holders with no remaining legal status and place eligible detainees on direct flights to Haiti.

The legal groundwork was already in place. On July 27, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed that Haiti's TPS designation was officially over. Work permits issued solely through TPS went with it.

“The Haiti TPS designation is terminated.”

TPS gave eligible Haitians work permits and deportation protection, not permanent residency, and Haiti's designation had been on the books since the 2010 earthquake.

Some former TPS recipients have pending asylum claims or another immigration status. Those without another legal basis to remain can be arrested and placed into removal proceedings, though immigrants without final removal orders are generally entitled to appear before an immigration judge first. DHS had offered former TPS holders a way out before it came to that: a free flight and $2,600 to leave voluntarily through the CBP Home program.

In a statement to CBS News, DHS riffed off Semisonic's "Closing Time" to make their point clear:

“It’s closing time which means you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

Community leaders in Springfield reported ICE arrests outside stores and after traffic stops. They said agents boxed in Haitian pastor Joubert Adrien at a gas station Thursday and took him into custody.

An ICE flight carrying 161 deportees landed in Cap-Haitien Thursday, the first since the administration won its TPS case affecting roughly 350,000 Haitians. Haitian officials said former TPS holders and people who had completed prison sentences were aboard, but did not provide a breakdown.

Haiti has some real issues and high crime rates, but it is not up to the United States to keep the temporary status open after 16 years, especially when former TPS holders had the option of $2,600 and a free flight home.

Editor’s Note: Democrat politicians and their radical supporters will do everything they can to interfere with and threaten ICE agents enforcing our immigration laws.

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