ICE Detains 'Beloved' Haitian Pastor Gilbert Joubert Adrien in Springfield, Ohio

ICE agents detained Gilbert Joubert Adrien, 41, a pastor described by community members as a beloved leader of Springfield, Ohio's Haitian community, at a Sunoco gas station on South Limestone Street on Thursday, August 20, 2026. Another Haitian man, Victor Yonel, was also taken into custody in the same stop; a woman who was in the car with them was released. Adrien is being held at the Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Ohio, according to the DHS detainee locator. The Haitian Support Center said Adrien has a pending asylum case that advocates believed should have shielded him from detention. G92, a Springfield faith-advocacy group, called the detention 'a profound wound' to the community; member Marjory Wentworth said 'the community is really deeply saddened. It makes everyone feel even more vulnerable,' while Haitian Support Center executive director Vilés Dorsainvil warned that if Adrien is deported, 'the congregation will be here terrified and without their leader.' More than two dozen Haitians with Springfield connections have been detained and held at Butler County Jail in recent weeks as ICE intensifies enforcement following the July 27, 2026 termination of TPS for the city's roughly 15,000-strong Haitian community.