Video of Haitian immigrant’s collapse outside ICE office draws national outrage
TheGrio...
Monsanto Maler’s emotional moment was captured as former Haitian TPS holders report to immigration officials in Ohio.
A video of a Haitian man collapsing to the ground in tears outside an Ohio ICE office has become the defining image of what the end of Temporary Protected Status looks like in practice.
The man, identified by CNN as Monsanto Maler, broke down Sunday, Aug. 9, after leaving the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Blue Ash with an ankle monitor fastened to his left ankle. Photojournalist Carol Guzy captured the moment as community advocates rushed to comfort him. Maler, who has lived in the U.S. since 2023, said he left Haiti because he no longer felt safe there.
Vilès Dorsainvil of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, one of the men seen steadying Maler, described the practice bluntly to CNN. “It’s so humiliating,” he said, adding that Maler “was confused” and kept asking how long he would have to wear the device.
The King Center amplified the footage on Instagram, announcing it would post nothing else for 24 hours and calling the treatment “state-sanctioned and carried out dehumanization.” The organization urged supporters to contact Congress and demand changes to how Black and Brown immigrants are treated.
The check-ins follow a June 25 Supreme Court decision permitting the Trump administration to terminate TPS for roughly 350,000 Haitians while legal challenges continue. Three justices dissented. Haiti’s designation formally expired July 27, and DHS has since mailed thousands of letters summoning former TPS holders, many from Springfield, to report in person roughly an hour away in Blue Ash.
Those fitted with monitors face restrictions barring travel beyond 75 miles from home without ICE permission, according to reporting from the Springfield News-Sun. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the office Sunday in support.
The policy carries an uncomfortable contradiction. The State Department’s own July advisory places Haiti at Level 4, warning Americans not to travel there at all due to widespread violent crime, kidnapping and collapsed law enforcement capacity.