SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — You can tell the last two years have drained Vilès Dorsainvil. The executive director of the Haitian Community Support Center in Springfield, Ohio, has fielded everything from false claims accusing his community of eating pets; Haitian residents facing unemployment then housing and food insecurity; interview upon interview as the government and courts sparred over their legal status. And through it all, he projected a calm and collected image.
It became clear Thursday morning that the Supreme Court’s ruling on temporary protected status, granted to immigrants from countries facing natural disaster, political violence and other extraordinary circumstances, for Haitians and Syrians was the final act that broke him.
