Bernie Moreno, Ohio’s senior United States senator, said U.S. manufacturing should rely on higher-paid American workers rather than immigrant labor, and reiterated his focus on trade policy as a top priority, responding to comments by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on the role of Haitian workers in the state’s industrial recovery.

“US manufacturing will be revitalized with American workers getting paid living wages, not by importing third world migrants, dependent on our social safety net, that lower wages,” Moreno wrote in a post on social media. He added that the United States also “needs tariffs on imports that aim to destroy our domestic auto industry,” calling legislation to eliminate that threat his “top priority this year.”

US manufacturing will be revitalized with American workers getting paid living wages, not by importing third world migrants, dependent on our social safety net, that lower wages. https://t.co/w64otXcCeI

— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) February 22, 2026

Moreno’s remarks followed DeWine’s criticism of President Donald Trump’s effort to revoke Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. DeWine said the policy would hurt manufacturing in Springfield, Ohio, where Haitian workers have filled jobs that employers said were difficult to staff.

“Springfield is an industrial city, manufacturing city that was down. It has been coming back,” DeWine said in an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” He said employers told him Haitian workers were “filling jobs that were not being able to be filled in any other way.”

DeWine said removing TPS would leave employers unable to hire those workers and could result in widespread job losses. “So it’s been a big boost to the economy,” he said of the Haitian workforce in Springfield.

Moreno, a Republican who began serving as Ohio’s senior U.S. senator in 2025, argued that reliance on migrant labor suppresses wages and shifts costs to public assistance programs. His post did not address employer claims that the jobs were otherwise unfilled.

Moreno has also said the United States should impose tariffs on certain imports, particularly automobiles from China, to protect domestic industry. He made the remarks in response to a post by Fox News host Laura Ingraham citing an article from The Economist that said car sales in China had stalled and that the country intended to expand vehicle exports abroad. Ingraham said tariffs on Chinese cars were “absolutely crucial unless we want to become wholly dependent on Chinese cars,” and Moreno replied that the United States “not only need[s] tariffs on imports that aim to destroy our domestic auto industry … but also legislation that permanently eliminates the threat,” calling it his top priority for the year.

We not only need tariffs on imports that aim to destroy our domestic auto industry, and in the process millions of jobs for working American families, but also LEGISLATION that permanently eliminates the threat. That’s my top priority this year! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/XAojX5wGob

— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) February 18, 2026

The exchange highlights divisions among Ohio Republicans over immigration, trade and labor policy as the Trump administration moves to tighten rules governing temporary legal status for migrants and confronts competition from China in the auto sector.