Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is facing intense online criticism after he stated that deporting Haitian migrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) back to their home country would be akin to sending them "back to hell."
DeWine, a Republican governor in a state that supported former President Donald Trump, made the remarks in a CBS interview earlier this week. He argued that Haiti is currently too dangerous for the estimated 30,000 Haitian TPS holders in his state to return to. "Haiti is hell today. So you'd be sending people … back to hell," DeWine said. "Very few of these Haitians will voluntarily go back to Haiti. If they have to leave, they'll go someplace else. They want to work. They want to support their family. They don't want to go back to Haiti."
His comments ignited a swift backlash on social media from conservative commentators. Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist, questioned DeWine's characterization, asking, "What makes Haiti hellish? Is it…the Haitians?" Logan Hall of The Blaze echoed this sentiment, asking, "Hey governor, what is it that makes Haiti so bad anyway?"
Internet personality Larry Sanger also weighed in, posing the question, "I think the real question here is, if Haiti is hell, why are we importing Haitians?"
Some online critics drew parallels to the controversy in 2018 when then-President Trump referred to Haiti and some other nations as "s---hole" countries. Others suggested that celebrities and Democrats have wrongly portrayed Haiti as a utopia.
DeWine's office declined to comment on the online criticism when reached by Fox News Digital. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The end of TPS for Haitian migrants came after a Supreme Court decision upheld the Trump administration's order to terminate the program. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated that TPS is intended to be temporary and should not function as a "de facto amnesty program."
TPS was established by the Immigration Act of 1990 to provide protection to individuals in the U.S. from certain countries experiencing armed conflict or natural disasters. Critics argue the program has been misused for individuals not facing such emergent circumstances.
DeWine also highlighted the contributions of Haitian TPS holders in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio. "These are people who have helped Springfield really come back," DeWine said. "The Haitians who are living there and employed there, they came there to work, and they came there because there were jobs that were not being filled by other people."