Immigration

Ohio's Republican Governor Says Haitians 'Played a Major Role' in Springfield's 'Economic Comeback'

Gov. Mike DeWine's recent essay in The New York Times makes the case for a more open legal immigration policy.

Billy Binion | 8.14.2026 2:55 PM

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A Haitian national in Ohio collapses after being fitted with an ankle monitor (Freedomnews.TV/@ScooterCasterNY/X)

"It's time for Mr. Trump's Nixon-goes-to-China moment," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, wrote this week in The New York Times. For President Richard Nixon, that meant strategically establishing diplomatic relations with China, even as a crusader against communism. President Donald Trump's moment, DeWine says, would be pursuing a more open legal immigration policy, even as he has crusaded against illegal migration.

The essay outlines Trump's work to stem the latter, and says the president oversaw a "remarkable turnaround." This lends him a unique sort of credibility, according to DeWine, to champion pragmatic policy that is good for the country—from incentivizing high-skilled immigration to allowing Haitian nationals to stay—despite the currency the topic has as a lightning-rod culture war issue.

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