U.S. Deports 161 People to Haiti in the First Flight Since Protections for 350,000 Haitians Ended

The United States deported 161 people to Haiti on Aug. 20, the first such flight since the administration won its legal fight to end Temporary Protected Status for some 350,000 Haitians, The Associated Press reported. The plane landed at Cap-Haitien rather than Port-au-Prince, where the main airport is considered too dangerous and U.S. commercial flights are barred through early September. Haiti's National Office of Migration said the group included TPS holders and people who had served prison sentences, and that some were not born in Haiti. Arriving deportees were offered a maximum of $65 along with food and drink.

Gangs control an estimated 70 percent of Port-au-Prince, gang violence has displaced a record 1.5 million people, and U.N. figures record more than 3,100 people killed in the first half of 2026. Aid groups say the country cannot absorb returns at this scale.

The Supreme Court allowed the TPS terminations to proceed in late June, and a federal judge in Washington lifted the last block on Haitian removals on Aug. 5. Haiti's Group Supporting Refugees and Returnees said the country "is not ready to receive this number of migrants."