In Springfield, Ohio, a city transformed by the arrival of roughly 10,000 Haitian immigrants, an unusual political calculation is playing out. Two Republican congressmen have broken ranks with their party to support protections for the very immigrants their leader has attacked, betting that constituent pressure and economic realities matter more than loyalty to Donald Trump.
The moment that crystallized this shift came at an airport gate, where Carl Ruby, a pastor at a local church, and Viles Dorsainvil, who runs the Haitian Community Help & Support Center, found themselves boarding the same Washington flight as their congressman, Republican Mike Turner. The casual encounter gave them the opening they had been denied for months through official channels.
Turner's response surprised them. "He clearly understands the economic benefit of having immigrants here. He clearly is not on the same page with many members of his party who are willing to step back and let the president do whatever he wants," Ruby recalls.
That conversation translated into action. Turner voted with Democrats last month to extend immigration protections for Haitians, joining only nine other Republicans out of 214 House members to do so. Mike Carey, a Republican congressman from neighboring Columbus, cast the same vote. Both men face re-election in November in a state that gave Trump double-digit margins in 2024, yet now shows signs of slipping back toward competitive terrain.
The political math in Ohio has shifted dramatically. A Bowling Green State University poll released this week found that 15% of Trump voters in the state already regret their decision. Majorities oppose his proposed war on Iran (53%) and tariff campaign (56%). Robert Alexander, the political science professor who headed the poll, noted that respondents consistently cite economic concerns and inflation as driving their unhappiness. "The headwinds will certainly be strong against Republicans in the fall," Alexander said.
For Turner, the political vulnerability is real. He has held his seat for nearly 25 years, but recent polling suggests that streak is ending. He drew criticism last year for avoiding in-person town halls, leaving constituents without direct access to their representative. His office did not respond to inquiries about his decision to support Haitian protections over the Trump administration's position.
The stakes are particularly high in Ohio this year. The state is witnessing a three-way battle for governor, with Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton, a physician and former state health director, running essentially even in polls. The Senate race between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown has drawn $79 million from Republican groups, more than any other Senate campaign in the country.
Springfield itself embodies the tension. The city, like much of Ohio, has long suffered from population decline and aging demographics. The arrival of Haitian workers has reversed that trend, revitalizing neighborhoods and filling labor gaps across multiple industries. Yet Trump's inflammatory September comments from a televised debate, in which he made false claims about immigrants eating pets in the city, unleashed chaos: bomb threats, white supremacist demonstrations, and a climate of fear that disrupted daily life.
Pastor Ruby found himself at the center of that storm. Once accused by some of collaborating with immigration enforcement, he received threats serious enough to warrant FBI involvement. He pushed forward anyway, introducing Creole language masses at his church to serve the growing Haitian congregation. His resolve reflects a broader reality in the community: many of his parishioners fled Haiti because they had opposed government corruption and faced imprisonment and torture as a result. Haiti's current violence is worse than when they arrived, Ruby notes, and even the State Department advises against travel there.
The Supreme Court is now weighing whether the Trump administration can terminate temporary protected status for 350,000 Haitians and thousands of Syrians. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson questioned during oral arguments whether Trump's characterization of Haiti as a "disgusting" country and his claims that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of the country" constituted discrimination. A ruling is expected by June, though the court's October decision to uphold the termination of Venezuelan TPS offers little comfort to advocates.
Until then, uncertainty persists. "Nobody wants to hire Haitians because of all the uncertainty," Ruby says, "if they may not be allowed to work."
Author James Rodriguez: "Two House Republicans betting their careers on immigrant workers over Trump's popularity tells you everything about how precarious his standing really is in Ohio."
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