COLUMBUS, OHIO — While the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian migrants, former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is pushing back — arguing Ohio communities “depend on them to help our local economy thrive.” The Ohio Republican Party says Brown has his priorities backwards.
TPS is a temporary immigration program created in the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake. What was designed as a short-term humanitarian measure has been repeatedly extended for more than 15 years. The Supreme Court’s ruling now gives the Trump administration the legal footing to wind it down — a decision Republicans support as a matter of border security and the rule of law.
Brown responded by framing TPS holders as essential to local economies, saying, “We should be focused on increasing economic opportunity for all Ohioans, not setting working families back further.” But a look at the economic record in Springfield — one of the Ohio communities Brown has spotlighted — tells a different story about who has been set back.
Since August 2018, the Navistar plant in Springfield laid off at least 2,000 workers. From December 2023 to December 2024, the Springfield metro area lost approximately 1,100 additional jobs. Over a 15-month stretch ending in August 2023, rents climbed 14.8% annually — the third-fastest rate among U.S. metro areas. Median home sale prices more than doubled between August 2018 and August 2024, rising from $87,500 to $189,000 — an increase of roughly 136%. Medicaid and food-assistance enrollment surged alongside population increases during the same period.
These are the pressures Ohio working families are living with. Republicans believe the Supreme Court got it right: enforcing immigration law, restoring integrity to programs designed as temporary relief, and prioritizing economic opportunity for American workers and citizens is the correct course. Brown’s position puts TPS politics ahead of the Ohioans he once represented.
