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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — <\/span>One grew up in rural Haiti amid the poverty and violence of his beautiful but troubled Caribbean nation. The other grew up in Michigan as a self-described \u201cblue-collar farm kid\u201d from Middle America.<\/p>\n Both became pastors in Springfield, Ohio. Both share a goal inspired by their faith: supporting the city\u2019s Haitian migrants who fear deportation under President Donald Trump\u2019s ongoing immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n Reginald Silencieux, pastor of the First Haitian Evangelical Church, and Carl Ruby, pastor of Central Christian Church, share a common cause \u2014 and a mutual respect for one another. They both stood up for Haitians when Trump falsely accused Springfield\u2019s Haitian migrants<\/a> of eating their neighbors\u2019 cats and dogs in 2024.<\/p>\n They offered them shelter in their churches and invited community members<\/a> to join in prayer and peaceful protest of the false rumors that exacerbated anti-immigrant fears. <\/p>\n In the weeks after Trump\u2019s comments, schools, government buildings and the homes of elected officials received\u202fdozens of bomb threats<\/a>. Ruby and Silencieux were targeted, too. Still, they persevered.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve held trainings<\/a> to document and protest potential immigration enforcement raids, provided legal aid and food, and continued offering worship services in Creole and English-language classes. <\/p>\n And while they\u2019ve prayed for Trump<\/a>, they\u2019ve demanded an extension of the Temporary Protection Status program that has allowed thousands of Haitians to legally arrive in Springfield in recent years, escaping unrest<\/a> and\u202f gang violence<\/a> \u202fin their homeland.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth of them have been great leaders for the community,\u201d said Viles Dorsainvil, who has worked closely with both pastors as executive director of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center in Springfield.<\/p>\n He calls Ruby a champion of migrants, even putting his life at risk to support and welcome them.<\/p>\n He\u2019s grateful to Silencieux for hosting the Haitian community center in his church since 2021 and inviting immigration attorneys to meet with congregants after services.<\/p>\n \u201cHe prays for them; he\u2019s fasting with them; he\u2019s giving them spiritual advice,\u201d Dorsainvil said.<\/p>\n Silencieux grew up in a Christian family, loving Jesus and wanting to serve God \u2014 just not as a pastor. Instead, he became an attorney.<\/p>\n But by his mid-twenties, he was preaching part-time and eventually moved to Port-au-Prince where he pastored several churches in the gang-controlled capital city<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cLife in Haiti was not easy. But it shaped my character,\u201d Silencieux said. \u201cIt taught me perseverance, responsibility and the importance of community.\u201d<\/p>\n It also prepared him for his next challenge. <\/p>\n In 2021, he felt called to move to Springfield, where Haitian immigrants were helping meet rising labor demands for the city\u2019s growing manufacturing industry. He didn\u2019t know English and he left behind his wife and children, who still live in Haiti. <\/p>\n Since then, he has been helping some of the thousands of Haitians who legally moved to Springfield in recent years under the TPS program. The U.S. initially gave TPS to Haitians following a devastating earthquake in 2010 and extended it several times since. But the Trump administration has pushed to end that status, saying conditions in Haiti have improved.<\/p>\n A federal judge recently ruled to keep the protection<\/a> temporarily in place. But uncertainty and fear continue in Springfield.<\/p>\n After her ruling, the judge received death threats<\/a>. Bomb threats closed schools, offices and businesses in Springfield. <\/p>\n Silencieux feels powerless at times, but he reminds the community \u2014 and himself \u2014 to keep faith. <\/p>\n \u201cAs a pastor, I don\u2019t have any possibility to protect them,\u201d he said. \u201cFaith helps me to help the community.\u201d <\/p>\n At a recent Sunday service, he recommended that his congregants stay home as much as possible in case of immigration raids. He offered a prayer for Trump and the Haitian community.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president is our president. He can take decisions. But he is limited,\u201d he said. \u201cGod is unlimited.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruby grew up in a Baptist family in rural Michigan and spent most of his life identifying as an evangelical and a Republican. When he moved to Springfield \u2014 and for years after \u2014 he knew no Haitians.<\/p>\n But tensions flared in 2023 after a boy was killed and dozens injured when a Haitian immigrant driver\u202f hit a school bus<\/a>.<\/p>\n From home, Ruby tuned into a live city council meeting discussing the crash.<\/p>\n \u201cI was hearing one ugly racist statement after another,\u201d he said, recalling how he drove immediately to the meeting to speak out.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I said was, \u2019We need to remember that there are advantages of having immigrants come into our community; they\u2019re good people.\u2019 And I immediately became the friend of Haitians in town and the enemy of anti-immigrant people in town.\u201d<\/p>\n After Trump\u2019s derogatory comments in 2024, Ruby invited Springfield\u2019s Haitians to worship at his church. He encouraged his congregation to hand out cards around Springfield with a supportive message for Haitians. In Creole and English, it read: \u201cI\u2019m glad you are here. Christ loves you and so do I.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruby said God began preparing him for this moment 15 years ago. At the time, he was vice president of student life at Cedarville University, a Baptist college near Dayton, Ohio, and he organized a trip with students to trace the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>\n The group visited the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, where in 1963 four Black girls were killed when a bomb planted by Ku Klux Klan members<\/a> exploded during a Sunday service. <\/p>\n They also visited the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, where Ruby read King\u2019s \u201cLetter from Birmingham Jail.\u201d The letter was directed at Alabama clergy who had asked King to delay civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know that was a letter addressed to pastors who had failed to stand because they wanted to be safe,\u201d Ruby said.<\/p>\n \u201cI made a commitment to myself that I wouldn\u2019t do that; that if there were an opportunity for me to use my voice to help someone who was being oppressed, that I wouldn\u2019t be silent.\u201d<\/p>\n He organized a national conference of Christian colleges, hoping students could return to their campuses inspired to launch organizations focused on serving immigrants.<\/p>\n His work for migrants continued when he became pastor in 2015.<\/p>\n Working with faith leaders, he founded G92<\/a>, an immigrant advocacy group named after the Hebrew word \u201cger,\u201d meaning stranger or foreigner, which appears 92 times in the Old Testament. <\/p>\n Today, he takes pride that Springfield\u2019s resistance to Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown is faith-based. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is definitely a faith-led movement,\u201d he said. \u201cGod loves immigrants and part of demonstrating that you\u2019re one of God\u2019s people is taking care of immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n He has been targeted with threats and slanderous comments. But he remains undaunted. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never lost a moment of sleep over worrying about someone harming me,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe God will protect me.\u201d<\/p>\n On Feb. 2, he helped put on an event where hundreds packed a church<\/a> to sing and pray in support of Haitians. So many people turned up that a fire marshal asked scores to leave because the church had exceeded its capacity.<\/p>\n \u201cOutside beautiful events with my family, it was the most beautiful day of my life,\u201d Ruby said. <\/p>\n With the TPS program\u2019s uncertain future, Ruby remains worried about the fate of Haitian migrants in Springfield. But he\u2019s also hopeful.<\/p>\n \u201cI think God\u2019s going to bless our city for doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n