The United States deported more than 160 individuals to Haiti on Thursday, marking the first such deportations since a legal challenge allowed the Trump administration to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for approximately 350,000 Haitians. The flight landed in Cap-Haitien, a city in northern Haiti, as the primary international airport in the capital, Port-au-Prince, is currently deemed too dangerous due to persistent gang violence.
The U.S. government has implemented a ban on commercial flights to Port-au-Prince through early September because of the escalating security situation. Upon arrival, the deportees, many of whom covered their faces for safety, were met by journalists. Most declined to speak, citing fears of being targeted by gangs that control a significant portion of the capital and surrounding areas.
According to Jean Négot Bonheur Delva, director general of Haiti’s National Office of Migration, the deportees included individuals who had been TPS holders as well as those who had served prison sentences in the U.S. Delva clarified that the Haitian state did not request these returns, but the National Office of Migration is tasked with receiving and assisting returnees.
Some deportees face perilous journeys to reach their home regions within Haiti, as gangs control major routes and have been known to open fire on vehicles. Others are headed to the western part of the country. Delva noted that some deportees were not born in Haiti but are of Haitian descent, including one individual born in the Dominican Republic who has no ties to Haiti.
Haitian immigration officials provided the deportees with basic necessities, including food and drink, and a small sum of money. Those unable to reach their homes immediately would be provided temporary shelter.
Delva did not specify how many of the 161 deportees were TPS holders who had been residing and working legally in the U.S. since 2010. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in late June paved the way for the end of the TPS program. By late July, the U.S. government had not extended work permits for Haitians, and on August 5, a federal judge lifted an order that had prevented the deportation of TPS holders.
Humanitarian organizations and activists have expressed concerns about Haiti's capacity to absorb the returning migrants. They point to the country's ongoing crisis, characterized by widespread gang violence, displacement of a record 1.5 million people, and a significant portion of the population requiring humanitarian assistance due to poverty and hunger. Between January and June, the U.N. reported over 3,100 deaths and 1,189 injuries in Haiti.
One deportee, who identified himself as Jean Diane Louis, told The Associated Press that he left Haiti at age 5 and was facing deportation after serving a prison sentence for a crime he denied committing. He stated he was taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without questioning and sent to Haiti.
Amid the ongoing deportations, U.S. authorities also arrested a Haitian pastor, Gilbert Joubert Adrien, and another Haitian man in Springfield, Ohio. A spokesperson for Springfield G92, a group supporting Haitian immigrants, reported an increased ICE presence in the city.
Haiti’s Group Supporting Refugees and Returnees criticized the deportations, stating that Haiti is ill-equipped to handle the influx, especially considering that over 140,000 Haitians have been deported from neighboring countries in the first half of the year alone. The group highlighted the lack of government measures to assist these returnees and the potential for family separation and broken community ties.
According to Human Rights First's ICE Flight Monitor, the U.S. had conducted approximately one deportation flight to Haiti per month since December 2023, with flights typically originating from Alexandria, Louisiana, and stopping in Miami before reaching Cap-Haitien.