Bizarre, Unexpected CNN Segment GOP Gov Betrays Trump
A long-running immigration battle has reached a turning point after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to proceed with stripping Temporary Protected Status from hundreds of thousands of Haitian nationals, prompting pushback from an unexpected source within his own party.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine used a national television appearance to voice his disagreement with the timing and substance of the decision, even while conceding the administration acted within its legal rights.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, the governor framed his objection around safety conditions inside Haiti rather than the legal merits of the case, which the nation’s highest court had already settled.
DeWine described the severity of Haiti’s instability in stark terms, noting that air travel into the capital remains effectively impossible under current conditions.
He referenced a violent incident from the preceding week involving the deaths of schoolchildren caught in crossfire between rival gangs.
“Just this last week, several more schoolchildren were killed just because gangs were shooting back and forth. Gangs control a significant part of Haiti,” he said.
The TPS program at the center of the dispute has allowed citizens of countries facing crisis conditions to remain and work lawfully in the U.S. on a renewable basis. Haitians first qualified for the designation after a massive earthquake devastated the island nation in 2010.
DeWine’s interest in Haiti predates the current controversy by decades. He and his wife have made repeated trips to the country as part of charitable work they have personally championed over many years.
Government figures place the number of Haitians living under TPS nationwide at roughly 350,000, with over 10,000 residing in Ohio alone. A large share of that population has settled in and around Springfield, a city that has drawn national attention over its growing Haitian community.
The TPS designation is not unique to Haiti. As of March of last year, more than 1.3 million people across 17 nations held protected status under the program, according to data compiled by the National Immigration Forum.
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling found that the statute governing TPS bars courts from reviewing executive branch decisions to end a country’s designation, effectively closing off legal challenges to the administration’s move.
The justices also dismissed arguments that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cut procedural corners or that racial bias had driven the policy shift.
Critics of the termination had pointed to inflammatory remarks Trump made in the past about Haitian immigrants, including comments suggesting they consumed pets and a vulgar description of Haiti’s national character, as proof of bias behind the decision.
Writing for the court’s majority, Justice Samuel Alito rejected that interpretation, concluding the remarks were not “overtly racial, and in substance all expressed policy views that could rest on race-neutral justifications.”
DeWine stopped short of criticizing the court itself, instead drawing a sharp line between judicial authority and executive policymaking.
“I accept the Supreme Court’s decision,” he said, adding, “In this country, they’re the final say of what the law is.”
He went on to argue that legality and wisdom are separate questions entirely.
“I think that it’s important that we separate the legal decision that was made by the Supreme Court with the issue of public policy,” DeWine said.
The governor’s central appeal to the White House centered on labor, not just humanitarian concern, suggesting Haitian workers fill positions that would otherwise sit vacant.
“I would hope the Trump administration would reconsider,” he said. “These are jobs that are being filled by Haitians who are filling jobs that would not be filled any other way.”
On the same program, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin detailed how the administration intends to handle the transition for affected migrants, including a cash incentive for those willing to leave voluntarily.
Mullin said the government would offer approximately $2,100 to each Haitian TPS holder who chooses to return home rather than pursue other legal status.
He stressed that protected status was never meant to be a permanent arrangement, and that alternative paths had been open to recipients all along.
“The whole time these individuals have been here underneath the Temporary Protected Status, they could have applied for a visa. They could have applied for LPR [Lawful Permanent Resident],” Mullin said.
Mullin laid out three distinct paths now available to Haitians facing the end of their protected status.
“These individuals have a couple of choices,” he said. “They can try to apply for a permanent residence here. They can apply for a temporary visa if they choose to, or they can choose to go back. And if they want to go back, we will help them with that.”
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