MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We've reported that some 300,000 people originally from Haiti are living in the U.S. with temporary protected status, several thousand of whom have settled in Springfield, Ohio. They were the targets of this false, ugly claim by President Trump in 2024 during a presidential debate airing on ABC.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating the pets.
MARTIN: As we said, repeatedly proven false. But the impact on the community was profound. There were bomb threats. There were rallies by white supremacists and so on. That's something that Reverend Carl Ruby knows well. Reverend Ruby is a senior pastor at Central Christian Church in Springfield. His congregation includes many Haitians. He also founded Springfield Neighbors United and G92, dedicated to helping Haitians in Springfield who are facing deportation. So we've called him to ask how his community is reacting to this latest news. Reverend Ruby, thanks for joining us.
CARL RUBY: Yeah, thank you.
MARTIN: You've obviously been following this closely. What have you been hearing so far from people in your community who could be affected by yesterday's ruling?
RUBY: Well, I mean, yesterday was surreal in just the way that the tension hung over our city, and particularly our Haitian community. And it was a whirlwind. And we're still trying to get a handle on it. But I was getting phone calls from members of the congregation asking if they should go to work. There were Haitians with me when we received the news and they immediately began crying. So yesterday was a really, really hard day.
MARTIN: I can imagine. So, you know, Haiti has been facing many struggles. I mean, this has gone on for sort of quite some time. But immediately, there have been all kinds of pressures, you know, the gang violence, et cetera, which has sort of been reported. How have people in the community been sort of dealing with that, knowing that there was the specter of being sent back?
RUBY: I don't - people who are advocates for Haitians are very, very aware of that. People who have kind of an anti-immigrant bias, I think they totally ignore that information. And just to kind of give you an indication of what it's like pastoring Haitians during this time - I had a 12-year-old child just this last week who was in the children's program. And we were talking about pigs. And he immediately told a story about seeing feral hogs eating bodies back in Haiti.
So these are people who have been severely traumatized before they ever arrived here. And, you know, I think your listeners can imagine the fear in a child's mind and heart having fled that. And this child survived a kidnapping attempt. He went on to talk about, you know, hiding in a classroom while there was shooting outside. So they know how awful it is. They know what they're being sent back to and they're terrified.
MARTIN: Can you just tell us a bit more about the Haitian community in Springfield and its place in Springfield? What do people do there? How have they sort of rooted themselves in the community there?
RUBY: Yeah. I mean, Springfield was a shrinking Rust Belt city before they arrived. And we had gone through 50 years of decline. When Haitians arrived, it was the first time Springfield grew. We went from being one of the fastest-shrinking cities to the fastest-growing city. They fueled our economy. They started businesses, businesses that were already here added shifts, new businesses came because of the Haitian workforce.
So they had a huge impact. And they show up everywhere. And most of them are professional people who are doing manual labor jobs because their certifications don't apply here. So they're very popular with employers. I've talked to one factory owner in town. He said they always show up, they work as much as they can and they never fail drug tests. So they're the ideal employees. They're exactly what Springfield needs.
MARTIN: We only have about 30 seconds left. But is there any recourse that you're aware of, so that people wouldn't have to leave?
RUBY: There really isn't. I mean, we're encouraging people to apply for asylum. If they have an asylum pending case, that slows the process down. But, no, there are no options. And we need a legislative fix to our immigration system. And until then, it's going to be one crisis like this after another.
MARTIN: That's the Reverend Carl Ruby. He's senior pastor at Central Christian Church in Springfield, Ohio. Reverend Ruby, thank you so much for talking with us.
RUBY: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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