Ohio Gov. DeWine says Trump’s TPS policy is a ‘job killer’ and bad for Ohio

Amna Nawaz:

A Supreme Court ruling this week cleared the way for the Trump administration to end temporary protected status for Haitians and Syrians, suddenly leaving thousands of refugees without legal immigration status.

One state that could face the biggest impact is Ohio, where more than 10,000 Haitian immigrants have settled. The state’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, called the move – quote – a “mistake.”

To learn more about the ruling and what it means for the communities in his state, I’m joined now by Governor Mike DeWine.

Governor, welcome back to News Hour. Thank you for joining us.

Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH):

It’s good to be back. Thank you very much.

Amna Nawaz:

So, you know, repealing TPS is a big part of the Trump administration’s campaign against immigration. The court now says they have the authority to do so. Why do you think this is wrong?

Governor Mike DeWine:

Well, I think the policy is wrong. The policy is wrong.

What I see specifically in Springfield and in Ohio, you talked about a number of Haitians who came. You see in Springfield a city that is coming back. It has been back in the last few years. And frankly, one of the reasons he came back was because there were Haitians who were there to fill jobs that were never filled.

This is what employers will tell you. That’s what the mayor said — the mayor put out another statement yesterday, and he was constantly saying that these Haitians are buying homes, opening businesses, working, trying — some of them have raised their families there. They contribute to society.

Here’s what the mayor of Springfield says. And my observation is that he is absolutely right. So when all these individuals that are out there with TPS – now, it’s not all Haitians. Some of them have other legal status, but a large number of them are under TPS, which means, of course, with this ruling, of course – now, I don’t – look, I’m not arguing with the Supreme Court’s decision.

They were interpreting a law that Congress had written, which basically says that the courts can’t interfere with that decision, that designation, like the administration made. My point of view is related to politics. I have said this constantly.

This is bad for Ohio. This is a career killer for Ohioans. He’s a career killer for Springfield. It is not good for our state.

Amna Nawaz:

Can I give you, Governor, what we’ve heard from the administration on this, which is what we heard Stephen Miller from the White House say yesterday when he was asked whether or not it’s safe for Haitians to return to Haiti. Here’s what he said.

STEPHEN MILLER, DEPARTMENT OF WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: The fact that there may be pockets of Haiti where crime rates are high, guess what? There are pockets of Chicago with high crime rates, right? There are pockets of cities like St. Louis that have high crime rates, and pockets of Los Angeles that are just as high.

It has never been the case that the presence of communities with high crime rates is a basis for asylum. It never was. It will never be so.

Amna Nawaz:

So, Governor, the White House says it’s safe for the Haitians to return. They also say this was meant to be a temporary situation. It’s in the name and in some cases it has spanned years and years. What is your response to what they say?

Governor Mike DeWine:

Well, saying it’s safe to go to Haiti is ridiculous. And I think comparing it to Chicago — it makes no sense at all.

Look, I have a lot of contacts in Haiti. We work with people in Haiti. We have a school there, my wife and I. We have traveled there 20 or 25 times, and we have a lot of contacts there. The situation in Haiti today is worse than ever before.

It was never so good. The only time, frankly, things were good, was when the United States Marines were there, and they did an extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary job. But the situation is very terrible. People are killed every day. Gangs basically run a large portion of the country.

And we’re talking now in Port-au-Prince. We’re talking about the Capitol. You cannot fly to Port-au-Prince with a US airline because US carriers will not go to Port-au-Prince. Why? Because gangs shoot at planes when they arrive. No, it’s a terrible, terrible situation.

So, no one who knows anything about Haiti can say that the situation has improved. In fact, it has gotten much worse. Good evidence of this is the Haitians I spoke to who knew they would have to leave or thought they might have to leave. No one I spoke to said they would return to Haiti. They will try to find somewhere else to go where they can work and support their families, but they won’t go back there.

Amna Nawaz:

Governor, if I could ask you also, you mentioned the Mayor of the City of Springfield. My colleague William Brangham has been on the ground there for a little over a year talking to people in the community. He met Haitians who settled there.

He spoke to some companies who said they were very happy to have people filling jobs and filling communities that had been somewhat abandoned. But the mayor also said at the time that services are taxable, right? People needed some support and language translation services in schools, hospitals and clinics.

He said it was straining resources. So what is balance for you?

Governor Mike DeWine:

Well, see, that’s true. It was a huge influx over a relatively short period of time. We worked with the mayor to try to help them.

So, the schools are definitely going to have Haitian kids, and that’s an added cost if they don’t speak the language. But the interesting thing about the employers, even though there was a language barrier, even though there was a cultural barrier, the employers were hiring them, and they were hiring them because they had open positions.

There is a ripple effect. Some of these companies told me that we were able to work a second shift because of the Haitians. Some people told me that we were able to take on bigger projects, sell more merchandise, whatever they were selling. This has a ripple effect in the economy.

Because of this economic activity, other people will get jobs because of it. So, yes, that’s the challenge the city of Springfield has faced. They did a very good job. But I think if you ask business people, if you ask the mayor what’s going to happen, the answer is, when these individuals don’t have TPS status, when they don’t have TPS status, they can’t be hired.

So, they’re not — they’re going to be out of work, and many of them have already left. Some of them — the rest of them will have to leave at some point and try to find a country where they can actually work.

I mean the big picture for Ohio is this. We are a red hot country. We bring companies all the time to Ohio. The real question today is: Do we have the people to fill them? So we put a lot of effort into education and job training.

We’ve put a lot of effort into vocational technology, as well as focusing on colleges, because they need all of the above. But without the immigrants coming, it will be difficult. It will be difficult for us to fill these positions. If you look at the population increase in Ohio – and now we’re going up for the first time in several years.

If you look at that, maybe three-quarters of that is a direct result of immigrants. If you look at some people who…

Amna Nawaz:

Governor, well, there’s a lot to talk about on this topic.

Governor Mike DeWine:

Yes, I’m sorry.

Amna Nawaz:

No, I really appreciate your time.

Governor Mike DeWine:

Yes.

Amna Nawaz:

I hope you’ll come back and join us as we pursue impact. We’ll have to leave it there for now.

That’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio joining us tonight.

Thank you sir.

Governor Mike DeWine:

Thank you.