Human Impact Project

Peterson Nozil, a 37-year-old Haitian national who has lived in Springfield since August 2022, was stopped and arrested while driving home with his family in the car. He had been inspected at the border, granted humanitarian parole, later received temporary protected status, held a valid work permit, and had applied for asylum. His attorney, Maria Otero, filed a habeas corpus petition on Oct. 1 in the Southern District of Ohio seeking a bond hearing and his release from the Butler County Jail, joining several other Haitian nationals in southwest Ohio challenging ICE's mandatory detention policy. The petition was supported by exhibits including his marriage license, his daughter's birth certificate, an employer letter, a church certificate, and letters of support. Judge Matthew W. McFarland ordered the government to respond to the petition by Oct. 5.

Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian immigrant and honor student who had just begun studying at Wright State University after being recruited to play soccer, died after being struck by a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70 near Springfield, Ohio, in what his family describes as a suicide. Bel hoped to study neuroscience and had a pending asylum claim with a hearing scheduled for October. His father said his son felt 'treated like an animal' after ICE required him to report to its Cincinnati office in August, where he was fitted with a GPS ankle monitor; in a July Instagram post, Bel wrote that wearing the device brought him 'shame and humiliation' he never imagined experiencing. Loved ones say he was deeply affected by bullying tied to the monitor. His death followed intensified ICE enforcement against Haitians in Springfield after many lost Temporary Protected Status, including the detention of two longtime Haitian pastors. Hundreds gathered in Springfield for his funeral, as Haitian families in the community remain afraid to leave their homes while deportation flights to Haiti continue.

Darline Jean Baptiste, a 33-year-old Haitian woman, was arrested by ICE in Springfield, Ohio on Aug. 14 while returning home from work during what the agency called a "targeted alien enforcement operation," and has since been held at the Butler County Jail. She entered the U.S. through a Florida airport in November 2023 under a humanitarian parole program, financially supports two children in Haiti, and said she fled her homeland due to daily threats of violence. An immigration judge denied her a bond hearing, ruling he lacked jurisdiction because she was considered an "arriving alien," and later withdrew her bond request entirely. On September 23, 2026, she filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, naming the warden of Butler County Corrections Center as respondent, supported by exhibits including her I-94, employment authorization document, an employer letter, and letters of support. In her court declaration, she said she is not a flight risk or danger to the community and committed to attending all future immigration court hearings if released. The government's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss her petition, and her attorneys filed a response in opposition on October 1, 2026.

Jodas Etienne, a 33-year-old Haitian national who lives in Springfield, has been held at the Butler County Jail for two months and is seeking a bond hearing and release from ICE detention.

Elisthene Petit Kat, 38, a Haitian national living in Springfield, was arrested Aug. 15 as a passenger in a vehicle stopped by North Hampton police officers acting under an agreement with ICE, allegedly for missing a hearing he was never informed about. He lawfully entered the U.S. in June 2023 with humanitarian parole after fleeing violence with his partner and young daughter, applied for asylum, worked at an auto parts assembly factory, attended church regularly, and was the sole provider for his family in Springfield while also supporting a 7-year-old son who remains in Haiti. U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett ruled Sept. 30 that ICE must release him from the Butler County Jail or provide a bond hearing within a week, rejecting the agency's argument that he was subject to mandatory detention as an 'arriving alien' despite having lived in the U.S. for years, and writing that the court was 'puzzled' by ICE's position. Petit Kat's petition noted he was not assessed for flight risk or danger, was not promptly served with a warrant, and did not speak with an ICE officer for days after being jailed. The ruling comes as half a dozen other Haitian citizens have challenged the legality of their ICE detention at the same jail, with advocates expecting more detainees in southwest Ohio to file similar challenges.

Johnny Jules was arrested by ICE on September 15 in Columbus, Ohio after reporting for a mandatory check-in, even though he was pursuing a green card through his U.S.-citizen wife, Lourdes Miya Dorsonne. The couple, married since 2024, has a 1-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter who Dorsonne said keep asking where their father is. Jules survived a 2022 boat capsizing in the Mona Passage that killed 11 women, was later released from ICE custody with periodic check-in requirements, and was deported to Haiti on the same flight as Augustave despite having submitted marriage-based adjustment documents to ICE.

Jean Alix Comper, a Haitian citizen, was arrested by ICE in Englewood on Sept. 4 and has since challenged his detention at the Butler County Jail in federal court. He argues he has been held without bond and has not received an adequate assessment determining that his continued incarceration is necessary.

A joint operation by the Lorain County Sheriff's Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and ICE swept through farmland and roadways near Oberlin, Ohio, arresting two men on criminal human trafficking charges and detaining roughly 50 other people on civil immigration violations. The yearlong investigation targeted a suspected smuggling network accused of recruiting workers under false pretenses and transporting them to agricultural businesses using shell transportation and contracting companies. Law enforcement conducted traffic stops of at least six vans and used a drone to track movement during the operation; three U.S. citizens were left behind in a Walmart parking lot after others nearby were detained. Oberlin city officials said they had no advance knowledge of the operation, which conflicts with the city's longstanding sanctuary policy limiting local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

A man believed to be Haitian, who neighbor Sara Vanhoose said regularly drove through her neighborhood obeying traffic laws, was pulled over and arrested outside her Sherman Avenue home by officers in three unmarked vehicles wearing ICE vests. When Vanhoose, a U.S. citizen, questioned the officers and told them the man was 'not doing anything wrong,' an ICE agent told her she would become their next target if she did not stop asking questions. Vanhoose said the man's vehicle was later towed and she was left upset that a neighbor she described as never having caused problems was taken away.

Wilbert Jean Baptiste was chased down and apprehended by law enforcement near a car wash at the Southern Village Shopping Center in Springfield, according to bystander videos posted to social media in which an officer identified himself as being with ICE. He is currently incarcerated at the Butler County Jail on an ICE hold, under the jail's agreement with ICE to house suspected noncitizens.

Beaubrun Charles Ardouin, a naturalized U.S. citizen who drives for a transportation company shuttling workers, was pulled over near Topre America in Springfield, Ohio, in what DHS called a 'targeted enforcement' stop. Ardouin said he showed officers his ID and told them he was a citizen, but they demanded identification from his five Haitian passengers and threatened to break his van's windows if he didn't unlock them. All five men, who said they had pending asylum applications, were detained and booked into Butler County Jail under ICE holds; jail records identified them as Canot Monnimat, Albert Francois, Nero Adrien Toussaint, Cadet Vixama and Wislain Fenelon. The stop occurred amid broader ICE activity across Springfield, including arrests near a car wash in an area with several Haitian-owned businesses, with some detainees' mugshots showing them still in work uniforms. Butler County Jail held 17 people listing Haiti as their birth country under ICE detention as of one recent Monday, as many of Springfield's estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Haitian residents became vulnerable to detention after a federal judge lifted a stay on the revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti. Legal experts questioned whether officers had reasonable suspicion for the traffic stop, and DHS said several of the detained men have since been released or transferred.

Haitian immigrant Monsanto Maler, who has lived in the U.S. since 2023 and said he left Haiti because he no longer felt safe there, collapsed to the ground in tears after leaving an ICE check-in appointment in Blue Ash, Ohio on Sunday while wearing an ankle monitor. Maler had reported to ICE after his Temporary Protected Status ended following a June 25 Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to terminate TPS for roughly 350,000 Haitians, with Haiti's designation formally expiring July 27. Photojournalist Carol Guzy captured the moment as community advocates, including Vilès Dorsainvil of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, rushed to comfort him; Dorsainvil said Maler was confused and repeatedly asked how long he would have to wear the device. Those fitted with monitors face restrictions barring travel beyond 75 miles from home without ICE permission, and hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the office in support as the video was shared widely, including by the King Center.

Dozens of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, home to about 15,000 Haitian residents, received letters starting July 22, 2026, directing them to bring immigration documents to ICE appointments. On July 31 and August 2, roughly 50 were summoned to the Cincinnati ICE field office and offered a choice between accepting $2,600 to self-deport or wearing electronic ankle monitors; all declined the payment and were fitted with monitors, having no criminal record and previously holding legal status. Advocates say the tactic, which creates a 75-mile radius limiting travel for court appearances 188 miles away in Cleveland, has not been seen in other large Haitian communities like Boston, Chicago or Miami. The move follows the Supreme Court's June 2026 ruling allowing the administration to end TPS for up to 350,000 Haitians, with the case now before a Washington, D.C. district court examining whether the decision was motivated by racial animus.

The ACLU of Ohio filed a federal lawsuit alleging that ICE agents repeatedly violated federal law by making warrantless arrests without determining flight risk, detained individuals for weeks or months, and mistreated detainees. The lawsuit details cases involving people with valid visas, work permits, and U.S. citizens from Puerto Rico, suggesting possible racial profiling. The plaintiffs seek class action status and want courts to stop warrantless arrests and require compensation for those improperly detained.

Carlos De-Los-Santos-Sosa, 25, was arrested on charges of assault and unlawful restraint after allegedly grabbing a 31-year-old woman at a Burlington Coat Factory store on Holland-Sylvania Road. An ICE detainer was issued for him. The case will be handled in Sylvania Municipal Court.

Luis Tenelanda, an Ecuadoran construction worker who lived in the United States for over 30 years, was detained by ICE and held at Butler County Jail in Ohio in June 2025. On June 8, 2025, Sgt. Corneal Rowe allegedly punched Tenelanda in the stomach after he joined other inmates in requesting their scheduled daily break, causing him to lose consciousness and sustain injuries to his stomach and arm. Witnesses report Rowe also used racial slurs against Tenelanda and other detainees. Jail staff allegedly failed to provide proper medical care following the assault. Tenelanda was deported to Ecuador in August 2025 and filed a federal civil lawsuit in May 2026 against Sheriff Richard Jones, Sgt. Corneal Rowe, and Butler County, alleging assault, civil rights violations, failure to train staff, and patterns of excessive force. An internal affairs investigation found Rowe used only "minimal force" but violated policy by not filing an incident report.

A police chief and officer from Gratis, Ohio, attempted to enter three Cincinnati Public Schools on April 15, claiming to conduct wellness checks on behalf of ICE. School officials denied them entry without warrants or specific student requests. The officers, from a department with an ICE partnership agreement, were outside their jurisdiction. Cincinnati officials, including the mayor, condemned the visit, stating the officers intimidated children and families.

ICE arrested Carlos Amaya, a 21-year-old from El Salvador with legal work status, during a workplace raid in August 2025. Data reveals approximately one-fifth of ICE's Ohio arrests from August 2025 to February 2026 were designated as "collateral" arrests—detentions of individuals caught during operations targeting others. Despite providing documentation of legal status and having no criminal record, Amaya remained detained for over eight months.

A Toledo resident is one of several lead plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit accusing federal immigration authorities of making warrantless arrests. The lawsuit comes as ICE enforcement increases in Ohio.

Multiple Ohio organizations, including ACLU Ohio, Community Refugee and Immigration Services, and Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, filed a lawsuit on March 18, 2026, against the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection, alleging federal agents illegally arrested people without proper arrest warrants or probable cause since April 22, 2025. The lawsuit includes a specific case from December 2025 in which plainclothes agents in an unmarked vehicle arrested a man outside a home improvement store without displaying a warrant, despite his active asylum case, valid work permit, and social security number. The suit names four immigrants held in ICE custody for weeks before a judge determined they were not flight risks, and cites a leaked January DHS memo that broadened the criteria for considering someone a flight risk. Federal agencies have filed only one document in the case and have not responded to requests for comment amid an ongoing partial government shutdown.