As gang violence and kidnappings surge across Haiti, the Trump administration continues forced returns following the termination of Temporary Protected Status.
The United States deported 82 Haitians on Thursday, marking the fourth removal flight since the Trump administration terminated the 15-year Temporary Protected Status program, according to Haiti’s National Office for Migration. The flight, which landed at Cap-Haïtien International Airport, carried more passengers than initially anticipated—the manifest had listed 71 people before 11 additional deportees were added upon arrival. These removals bring the cumulative total of forced returns to 401 individuals in recent months.
The timing of these deportations underscores a deepening humanitarian crisis. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has publicly urged the United States to suspend forced returns to Haiti, citing the country’s deteriorating security situation. “I urge the United States to halt the return of people to places where they could suffer irreparable harm, including Haiti, and to ensure due process for all removals to third countries,” Türk stated during the UN General Assembly. Many of those being deported left Haiti over a decade ago or were born outside the country entirely, with some never having set foot in Haiti before their forced return.
The deportation pace has accelerated since early July, when U.S. immigration authorities informed Haiti’s migration office of plans to conduct two flights weekly, potentially transporting up to 250 people per week. The broader regional picture is equally troubling: the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, and other nations are also deporting Haitians, bringing the total number of people forcibly returned to Haiti from all countries to over 200,000 between January and September, according to UN figures and the Support Group for Repatriates and Refugees (GARR). Stenley Orbruth Doriscar, GARR’s communications officer, told The Haitian Times that the scale of returns is unsustainable given Haiti’s humanitarian emergency.
These arrivals coincide with a catastrophic surge in gang violence. In early September alone, armed gangs carried out at least four kidnappings and one deadly kidnapping attempt across Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. Among the victims are a government agency director, a lawyer, two police officers, two students, their driver, and Radio Métropole journalist Wesly Renaud Jean. A mass killing in the commune of Kenscoff left nearly 50 people dead. These cases join that of James Boyard, Haiti’s National Police inspector general, who has remained in captivity with his child since June. All known kidnapping victims remain in the hands of their abductors, underscoring the lawlessness that now greets returning deportees.
Temporary Protected Status, a 15-year immigration program that had protected an estimated 350,000 Haitians living in the United States, was terminated by the Trump administration following a Supreme Court decision. The program had allowed Haitians to remain in the U.S. despite conditions in their home country that would normally render return unsafe or impractical.
Haiti’s security crisis and the forced return of hundreds of Haitians—many with no recent ties to the country—represents a critical issue for Caribbean nations and diaspora communities. The surge in gang violence, kidnappings, and the influx of deportees strains Haiti’s already fragile institutions and raises questions about regional migration policy and humanitarian obligations across the Caribbean.
Written & Edited by Orlyn Edwards. Published by Caribbean Air Force Media.
Category: News · Island routing: Haiti