Before dawn Wednesday, Jonas Julien waited in his Springfield, Ohio home for a ride to an ICE office an hour away. The 35-year-old Haitian immigrant had just finished a 12-hour shift and clutched a folder with an active asylum petition and work permit valid until 2029. "I don't know what awaits me, and I am just exhausted from the worry," he said. Ten hours later, he returned with a clunky black ankle monitor and an order to report back to ICE in weeks.

Mr. Julien is among hundreds of Haitians in Springfield summoned to ICE offices, with more than 100 fitted with ankle monitors, according to the Haitian Support Center. The city of 60,000, home to between 10,000 and 15,000 Haitians, has seen a robust ICE presence and more than 20 arrests since last week. This follows the termination of Temporary Protected Status that allowed 330,000 Haitians to live and work in the U.S.

Lawyers say fitting monitors on noncitizens without criminal history who remain in compliance has little precedent. In Springfield's Haitian communities, fear is widespread that monitors are a precursor to detention and forced return to Haiti, where the economy is in ruins and gangs target returnees. "People are in extreme mental distress," said Rose Thamar-Joseph, operations chief at the Haitian Support Center. Many Haitians are staying home, missing work despite valid employment authorization.

DHS declined to discuss operations, stating: "What we would say now is, it's closing time, which means you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here." Benjamin Louis, who drives Haitians to appointments, said the campaign intensified after TPS was rescinded.