Michaelle Louis’s feet and legs are aching.
asserted
feet → ache → ?
She can barely walk.
asserted
She → walk → ?
Surrounded by corn fields and the distant hum of a busy highway, the native of Haiti and dozens of other activists are 23 miles into a 45-mile march from Springfield to Ohio’s statehouse in Columbus to demand better rights for Haitian immigrants.
asserted
native → surround → immigrants
But the pain she’s feeling now is nothing compared to the mental anguish and fear she was subjected to last summer.
asserted
she → feel → anguish
In August, she spent five days huddling with her daughter and brother in the basement of her Springfield home.
asserted
she → spend → home
The family went without electricity during daylight hours out of fear that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers might come knocking on her door to deport them.
uncertain
officers → go → them
“I closed the curtains.
asserted
I → close → curtains
I didn’t want anyone to know there was people living in our house,” she recalls.
asserted
she → want → house
“We spent our days in silence.”
asserted
We → spend → silence
For months, ICE has terrorized members of Springfield’s immigrant community, speeding after vehicles down normally placid streets and causing crashes.
asserted
ICE → terrorize → crashes
Chief among those being targeted are the city’s Haitian community, who began immigrating to the struggling town of 60,000 residents eight years ago to fill hundreds of open blue-collar jobs.
asserted
who → target → jobs
But a supreme court ruling allowing the Trump administration to end temporary protected status (TPS) for more than 350,000 Haitian nationals in July meant they could no longer work legally, and within days, dozens of ICE agents descended on Springfield.
uncertain
dozens → allow → Springfield
In September, Markwayne Mullin, the US homeland security secretary, said 380 people had been detained by ICE agents in Springfield.
asserted
people → say → Springfield
Louis grew up in Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince, and says she came to Springfield in 2021 having entered the country legally through the southern US border.
asserted
she → grow → border
Her 31-year-old brother was murdered by a gang in Haiti in December 2018.
asserted
brother → murder → December
“I had so many threats from the gangs.
asserted
I → have → gangs
I left three months after he was killed,” she recalls.
asserted
she → leave → ?
“It was very hard for my mom and dad to lose their son.”
It’s not only Haitians who feel harassed by federal immigration agents in Springfield.
asserted
who → lose → Springfield
When ICE began patrolling city streets in August, resident Sean Moorman set about monitoring their activities and following their vehicles around town.
asserted
Moorman → begin → town
But that soon drew unwanted attention from arguably the most powerful federal law enforcement agency in the country today.
asserted
that → draw → country
In a lawsuit filed on his behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio against seven ICE officers last month, Moorman claimed agents swerved one of their vehicles towards his, “as if to ram him”, took photos of his car and used several of their vehicles to corner Moorman in his car, “making him fear for his life”.
asserted
him → file → life
Agents also allegedly drove by and photographed his home while his wife was inside.
uncertain
wife → drive → home
Last month, a federal judge ordered ICE to stop “retaliatory action” against Moorman and granted a temporary restraining order against seven of its agents, all of whom remained unnamed.
asserted
all → order → whom
But many of the ICE officers operating in Springfield at the time were moved out of state and the judicial order ran out on 18 September.
asserted
order → operate → September
“It is disappointing, but unfortunately not surprising, that ICE chose to play a shell game by shuffling their officers around rather than allowing them to face accountability in court for their lawless actions,” says David Carey, managing legal director at the ACLU of Ohio and Moorman’s legal representative in the case against the ICE agents.
asserted
Carey → choose → agents
“We certainly disagree with the court’s decision to entertain that shell game, but the fact that the court had already entered and extended a temporary restraining order against these officers also sent the most important message: ICE does not have a blank check to violate first amendment rights.”
asserted
ICE → disagree → rights
Moorman declined an interview with the Guardian, fearing further retaliation from ICE.
asserted
Moorman → decline → ICE
His lawsuit was thrown out by a federal judge on 2 October.
asserted
lawsuit → throw → October
ICE says it “is aware of the lawsuit filed by the ACLU in Ohio and is reviewing appropriate next steps in coordination with the Department of Justice”.
asserted
it → say → Justice
“Every day, [the Department of Homeland Security] is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe,” an ICE spokesperson said.
asserted
spokesperson → conduct → Americans
“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, if you break the law, you will face the consequences.
asserted
you → break → consequences
Around the country, ICE “watchers” such as Moorman have become essential in bringing to light the agency’s dangerous and often homicidal actions in their attempts to detain immigrants.
asserted
watchers → become → immigrants
More than two dozen people have been shot by ICE officers, many in front of their children, since the beginning of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in February 2025.
asserted
people → shoot → February
Among them are three US citizens who were shot dead in Minneapolis and Texas.
asserted
who → shoot → Minneapolis
Two of those people, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were, like Moorman, monitoring the actions of Ice agents.
asserted
Two → monitor → agents
For Louis, the false statement Trump made during his presidential election campaign in September 2024 about immigrants in Springfield eating people’s pets hurt her the most.
asserted
immigrants → make → her
“That opened my eyes.
asserted
That → open → eyes
Until then, all I did was go to work and come home.
asserted
I → do → work
I was helping people – Americans facing domestic violence.
asserted
I → help → violence
I served the nation; I served citizens,” she says.
asserted
she → serve → citizens
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
