In Ohio, Haitians’ American dream shatters as ICE prepares to deport them

US immigration has ramped up operations against Haitians, whose temporary protected status was removed by Trump When Monsanto Maler walked out of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Blue Ash, Ohio, at 9.15am on Sunday with an ankle monitor freshly attached to his left leg, he put his hand over his face, burst into tears and fell to the ground. He had come to the US in June 2023, fleeing gangs in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, where he had been hit over the right side of his head, leaving a large, visible scar. Grief-stricken and unable to hold himself up, he collapsed on the ground, his dozens of immigration documents, which a moment before had been carefully packed under his arm, strewn across the concrete. His face was full of confusion, his eyes bewildered. His American dream had ended in humiliation and despondency, with a metal box tied around his ankle. “I feel depressed, physically, mentally. I feel dizzy,” he said through an interpreter. Four hours earlier, 75 miles (120km) to the north in Springfield, Viles Dorsainvil, who heads the Haitian Support Center, and Pastor Carl Ruby loaded into a sedan on a humid, foggy morning at 5.30am. They were about to embark