Haitian immigrants who reported to the ICE field office at 9875 Redhill Drive in Blue Ash on Sunday, Aug. 9, left with electronic ankle monitors, wrist monitors and varying instructions about what comes next, as an estimated 500 supporters rallied outside.

The check-ins were the second round since Temporary Protected Status for Haiti ended July 27. On Aug. 2, all eight immigrants who attended appointments left wearing ankle monitors. This time, outcomes varied: some received monitors, others were given future check-in dates at the Blue Ash office or at ICE locations in Columbus and elsewhere, and some were told to return only when summoned.


Phillip Vils received an ankle monitor after his appointment. His wife Vicky Vils, who is pregnant, received a wrist monitor instead. "Someone will look at me like, 'This guy is a criminal,'" Phillip Vils told WVXU outside the office. "But it's okay, I'm going to work and enjoy my life. I don't know what happens next, but..."

Those fitted with monitors were told they cannot travel more than 75 miles from home without ICE permission, according to the Springfield News-Sun. Springfield, home to an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitian residents, sits roughly 70 miles from Blue Ash.

Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Springfield Haitian Support Center, escorted immigrants to the office and described the shame many feel. He told reporters the monitors embarrass parents who do not want their children to see them. One man who attended a check-in the previous week was so terrified afterward that he went to an emergency room the following day, Dorsainvil said.

Monsanto Maler, a Springfield resident who arrived in the U.S. in 2023 after fleeing gang violence in Haiti via Chile, collapsed in tears outside the office after his appointment. He showed reporters a scar on his head.

Heather Campbell of Dayton's Advocates for Basic Legal Equality provided volunteer legal assistance to immigrants before their appointments. Campbell said the Blue Ash office generally sees about a dozen people at most at a time since TPS ended; a separate ICE office near Columbus is busier.

Rebecca Bundy, ABLE's supervising attorney in Toledo, told MSNOW that while ICE has long required people in immigration court proceedings to choose between a monitor or detention, many Haitians filed asylum applications through a different federal process. ABLE is still examining how ICE claims authority to impose monitors in those cases, Bundy said.

Faith leaders from Springfield also traveled to Blue Ash. Pastor Carl Ruby of Central Christian Church offered communion to immigrants before they entered the building. Dorsainvil said most of those checking in live in Springfield, though at least one drove from Virginia.

Rally draws 500-plus for second straight week

Outside, an estimated 500 to 550 people gathered at Kenwood and Malsbary roads, organized by Ignite Peace and the Miami Valley Immigration Coalition. Kelly Sheehy, Ignite Peace's director of development and communications, said many Cincinnatians do not know the ICE field office is in Blue Ash, let alone that immigrants are being required to drive more than 70 miles for check-ins after losing their driver's licenses and work permits.

Ignite Peace estimates 50 to 60 Springfield-area Haitians have received letters ordering them to report. The end of TPS affects roughly 350,000 Haitian immigrants nationwide.

Further check-ins at the Blue Ash office are expected, though no specific dates have been publicly announced. Some immigrants have pending asylum claims working through immigration courts, where case dismissals have increased in 2026.