On Thursday, August 20, 2026, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) charter flight from Alexandria, Louisiana, carrying 161 Haitian nationals deported from the United States, landed shortly before noon at Cap-Haitien International Airport. This was the first flight of its kind since the Trump Administration last month ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted to more than 300,000 Haitians residing in the United States.

Haiti’s National Migration Office (ONM) initially expected to receive 175 people on board the plane, but its Director General, Jean Négot Bonheur Delva, indicated that there were 161, including children.

Among them were individuals facing deportation after illegally entering the United States, people in the Humanitarian Parole conditional leave program (https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-44133-haiti-flash-more-than-200-000-haitians-benefiting-from-the-biden-program-risk-expulsion.html), people deported as part of the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and others who had served their prison sentences or had been arrested and charged. Among those deported were individuals born outside Haiti (Chile, Dominican Republic, etc...) but sent to the country because one of their parents held Haitian citizenship.

Upon arrival, the deportees were met by ONM staff and received $76.40 in financial assistance from the Haitian government to return home. This sum is insufficient to cover the cost of a one-way ticket to Port-au-Prince, which is approximately $250 [by plane]. However, it will allow some to cross roads controlled by gangs, which carries risks.

The United States announced that it would increase the frequency of flights to two per week, which would allow for the return of at least 250 Haitians each week. This increase in deportations comes as Haiti is gripped by gang-fueled violence and a humanitarian crisis.

TB/ HaitiLibre