COLUMBUS, OH — This week ICE ramped up operations in Springfield – abducting Haitian immigrants and stoking fear throughout the city. Haitian TPS holders are now required to wear ankle monitors. 

Sen. Jon Husted made it possible.

New analysis from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) demonstrates how Husted’s votes to turbocharge Trump’s deportation machine diverted federal funds that could have been used to improve quality of life for all Ohioans. 

EPI’s tool calculates that under Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, Ohio taxpayers have spent nearly $6.9 billion on mass deportations – money that could fund 21,249 registered nurses, 23,860 teachers, or 29,376 firefighters. Those funds could provide Medicaid coverage for more than 308,186 people or medical care for 126,559 veterans. Or, Ohioans could have provided high quality preschool to 173,469 children through the Head Start program.

“Jon Husted could have chosen to make our lives better, but he funded Trump’s campaign of terror instead,” said Innovation Ohio President Michael McGovern. “Haitian immigrants aren’t the reason we can’t receive quality health care. They aren’t the reason our kids sit in overcrowded classrooms. Jon Husted and Donald Trump are. Now Husted has a chance to do what’s right and keep families together and communities whole: We’re calling on him to extend temporary protected status for Haitian immigrants.”