First U.S. deportation flight lands in Cap-Haïtien after TPS termination

A U.S. plane carrying over 160 people arrived in Cap-Haïtien, the first deportation operation since the Trump administration’s legal victory that ended Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitians. Flights to the capital are banned through early September due to ongoing gang conflict, prompting the use of the northern airport. The deportees, dressed in white and often masking their faces, comprised TPS holders and former inmates, some of whom were not born in Haiti but are of Haitian descent.

Haiti’s National Office of Migration said it would help reunite a migrant with family in the Dominican Republic and provide each person with up to $65 plus food and drink, while offering secure shelters for those unable to travel immediately. Officials warned that routes to the south and west are hazardous because gangs dominate the roads and may open fire. Activist groups have cautioned that Haiti lacks the capacity to absorb the returning migrants amid widespread violence and humanitarian need.