US Deportations Send 474 Haitians Back Amid Crisis

The United States removed 474 Haitians on five weekly deportation flights to Cap-Haïtien between August 20 and September 17, 2026, after Temporary Protected Status for an estimated 330,000 Haitians ended July 27 following the Supreme Court’s June 25 Mullin v. Doe ruling. Flights land in Cap-Haïtien under an FAA ban on U.S. aircraft near Port-au-Prince extended through March 2027. Human Rights Watch researchers watched an August 27 arrival and interviewed 44 deportees, who were processed in converted shipping containers with about 60 seats and two toilets, given a meal, a drink, and about 10,000 gourdes (~$77), bused to a police station, and then left to fend for themselves. Mayor Michel Saint-Croix said the city’s population has tripled to more than 1 million in two years. Interviewees included a 38-year-old Florida hotel worker separated from his wife and U.S.-citizen son, a 47-year-old woman arrested at a Miami green card interview, and a 24-year-old nursing assistant student. HRW said most interviewees reported no contact with lawyers or an immigration judge and little information on pending asylum claims. Nathalye Cotrino of HRW said: "The United States is returning people, some with pending asylum claims, to a country that doesn't have the capacity to protect them from violence, let alone help them find food and shelter." White House border czar Tom Homan said on CNN’s State of the Union on August 30 the administration was just enforcing the law and acknowledged unfamiliarity with Haiti conditions. U.S. chargé d’affaires Henry Wooster has described the security situation as full-scale urban warfare. Haitian officials said the U.S. plans up to two flights weekly of about 200 people each. HRW called for an immediate halt to the removals.