The Trump administration has ended legal protections for approximately 350,000 Haitians residing in the United States and is actively pursuing their deportation. This move comes as Haiti grapples with widespread violence, including armed gangs controlling much of the capital and recent kidnappings and killings.
The Department of Homeland Security stated that individuals with terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are considered to be in the country illegally and have two options: leave immediately or face deportation. TPS is granted to individuals from countries experiencing conflict, natural disasters, or other catastrophic events that make returning home unsafe. Haiti has been in a state of crisis since the 2021 assassination of its president.
Despite the precarious situation in Haiti, where the U.S. State Department advises against travel due to crime, terrorism, kidnapping, unrest, and limited healthcare, the administration moved to end TPS protections for Haitians last year. The Supreme Court greenlit this decision in June. On Thursday, a deportation flight carrying families, including those with U.S.-born children, departed for Haiti.
This intensified focus on Haitian immigrants is part of a broader, record-breaking immigration crackdown by the Trump administration. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a record number of individuals in June and July of this year, with arrests reaching 43,000 in June and nearly 50,000 in July, according to data from the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley and UCLA. A significant portion of these arrests in July involved individuals with only civil immigration violations, many of whom have ongoing legal cases for asylum or other forms of status.
ICE detentions have also seen an increase, though they remain below earlier year levels. The rise in arrests is attributed in part to the agency's expansion, with 29,000 employees in June compared to 21,000 in January 2025. The agency also received a substantial allocation of $75 billion through a reconciliation bill last year. ICE's internal target is reportedly 2,000 arrests per day, which could result in over 60,000 arrests per month, a majority of whom may not have criminal records.