First group of deportees arrives in troubled Haiti after US ends TPS program

On Thursday, the United States deported more than 160 individuals to Haiti for the first time since the Trump administration successfully ended Temporary Protected Status for approximately 350,000 Haitians. The deportees landed in Cap-Haitien, a northern Haitian city due to the danger posed by ongoing gang violence in Port-au-Prince, the capital.

According to Jean Négot Bonheur Delva, the director general of Haiti’s National Office of Migration, the deportees included both TPS holders and individuals who had served prison sentences. Many of the deportees were understandably hesitant to speak to journalists, fearing potential targeting by the gangs that control a majority of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas.

Some of the deportees, including one who claimed to have been born in the Dominican Republic, planned to travel to Haiti’s southern region, despite the dangerous nature of the journey due to gang control of the main routes.

Delva stated that the Haitian government's mission was to welcome migrants returning home and provide them with necessary support upon arrival. However, immigration officials offered deportees a maximum of $65, along with food and drink, in case they could not reach their homes immediately. The government pledged to continue efforts to reunify deportees with their families, if possible.

Activists have cautioned that Haiti is currently too volatile and lacks the resources to adequately assist those being deported back to the country. Gang violence has already displaced over 1.5 million people across Haiti, with more than half of the population requiring humanitarian assistance due to gang-related violence and deepening poverty.