United States deports 161 Haitians following TPS termination

The United States has deported 161 Haitian nationals, marking the first flight since the Trump administration successfully moved to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, which previously protected hundreds of thousands of Haitians.

Due to extreme insecurity and gang control in Port-au-Prince, the plane landed in the northern city of Cap-Haitien rather than the capital. The deportees, some of whom were TPS holders and others who had completed prison sentences in the U.S., arrived wearing white and often covered their faces for safety. Many declined to speak to the press.

Jean Négot Bonheur Delva, director general of Haiti’s National Office of Migration, stated that the Haitian government did not request these returns. He noted that the state's role is to receive those forced to return and assist them in reaching their homes or temporary shelters. Delva also observed that some deportees were of Haitian descent but were not born in the country.