Immigrant in crisis: Supporters want to stop Lima translator's deportation to Haiti

Yahoo

12-04-2025

Apr. 12—LIMA — Lima proved a welcome refuge for Marc Rocher as he fled chaos in his native Haiti.
His respite may soon end if federal courts uphold an order from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revoking humanitarian parole for the 532,000 Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans like Rocher who came to the U.S. since October 2022.
From Haiti to Lima
Rocher's siblings urged him to leave Haiti after foreign mercenaries assassinated President Jovenel Moise on July 7, 2021. Rocher resisted, even as gangs started taking over the nation's capital.
"It never made me scared," Rocher said — until gangs murdered one of his friends and kidnapped another friend for ransom.
"We didn't hear from him for two days," Rocher recalls.
Rocher joined his sister in Florida weeks later, eventually moving to Kentucky for work before settling in Lima.
Rocher learned to speak and write in English as a child while attending American schools in Haiti, which enabled him to translate for his fellow migrants in Lima.
Rocher accepted a job mentoring and translating for Haitian adoptees in Columbus Grove and migrant children in Lima schools, where he is the only interpreter who speaks Haitian Creole.
He quickly became essential in the schools as he translated for nurses, counselors, principals, and teachers who would otherwise rely on mobile applications, known for occasional errors, to talk to the Lima district's 88 Haitian Creole-speaking students and their parents.
"I don't know what they would do without him, because none of us speak Creole," said Jeanette Weaver, director of English language learner program for Lima schools.
'They consider us part of themselves'
The Biden administration permitted as many as 30,000 migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to come to the U.S. at their own expense each month through the humanitarian parole program starting in October 2022.
The program started in 1952 to grant temporary work permits for migrants fleeing war or political instability in their home countries, as they apply for asylum or a visa to stay in the U.S. when their parole ends.
Biden relied on the parole authority more than his predecessors, as he sought legal pathways for migrants to stay in the U.S. and discourage illegal border crossings.
An estimated 532,000 migrants traveled to the U.S. legally through the program, often traveling to cities like Springfield or Lima searching for work.
Exact estimates are unavailable, but U.S. Census Bureau estimates show at least 424 people moved from abroad to Allen County between April 2020 and July 2024.
The sudden influx of migrants caught the community's attention, with few Creole-speaking translators available to assist in the schools, courts and workplaces, but Rocher felt welcome in Lima.
"They consider us part of themselves," he said.
'He wants to make everyone illegal'
President Donald Trump fixated on immigration and repeated false rumors of migrants eating household pets in Springfield on the campaign trail, promising to end the Biden administration's "broad abuse" of the parole program, which he blamed for "the worst border crisis in U.S. history."
He signed a series of executive orders on inauguration day to secure the southern border, target "sanctuary" cities and terminate parole for Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans.
Then on March 24, the Department of Homeland Security notified parolees of its intent to revoke legal protections for migrants like Rocher, who have until April 24 to leave the country unless a federal court intervenes.
A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Trump administration's revocation of humanitarian parole, putting the revocation on hold.
"He wants to make everyone illegal," Rocher said, "so that you will have no choice."
Rocher remains the only Haitian Creole translator available for Columbus Grove and Lima schools, prompting friends, colleagues and parents of the children he tutors to call congressional representatives seeking an individual determination from DHS for him to stay.
He recently met with a lawyer to discuss his options, as returning to Haiti would make Rocher a target for gangs.
Even with his future in the U.S. in doubt, Rocher doesn't get too anxious. Instead, he turns to his Christian faith and his community for comfort.
"I know all will work out for me at the end of the day," he said.
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