(AURN News) — Deportation flights to Haiti are officially underway. More than 160 people landed in Haiti today in the first large removal flight since courts cleared the way for the Trump administration to end temporary protected status for roughly 350,000 Haitians.
The flight landed in Cap-Haitien after officials avoided Port-au-Prince’s airport because of ongoing gang violence and security concerns. Among those deported were former TPS holders and others who had already served time in the U.S. justice system.
One deportee told reporters he had not seen Haiti since he was 5 years old and said immigration agents picked him up without explanation.
Some people who stepped off the plane covered their faces on camera, citing fear. Gangs control much of Port-au-Prince, and deportees returning from the U.S. say they fear being targeted after arrival.
The deportation flight landed the same day ICE detained a well-known pastor in Springfield, Ohio, where Haitian immigrants have faced increased immigration enforcement, including the use of ankle monitors for some individuals, in recent weeks.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
