The United States has deported its fourth group of Haitians to the Caribbean nation since ending the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, with the latest flight arriving amid intensifying security crises and urgent appeals from the United Nations to halt the forced returns. According to officials from Haiti's National Office for Migration (ONM), the flight arrived on September 12, 2026, carrying 82 individuals to Cap-Haïtien International Airport. This latest arrival brings the total number of people forcibly returned to Haiti since the termination of the TPS program to 401.
The resumption of deportation flights follows a legal victory that allowed the Trump administration to move forward with terminating the 15-year-old TPS program, which had protected an estimated 350,000 Haitians. While initial flights in August—including a deportation on August 21 carrying 161 people—primarily targeted individuals facing removal for unauthorized entry or prison sentences, the broader scope of the policy threatens a massive influx of returning citizens. US authorities previously announced plans to operate two deportation flights per week, carrying up to 250 people combined.
The flights continue to land in the northern city of Cap-Haïtien rather than the capital because Port-au-Prince's main international airport remains deemed too dangerous due to pervasive gang violence. With armed gangs estimated to control approximately 70 percent of Port-au-Prince and a US commercial flight ban having been in place through early September, travel to other regions of the country poses severe risks for arriving deportees. Local authorities have struggled to establish comprehensive reintegration programs, offering recent arrivals only basic food, drink, and a small cash stipend of 10,000 gourdes, equivalent to about $77.
International human rights bodies have sharply criticized the continued expulsions. Speaking during the United Nations General Assembly, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged the United States to immediately suspend forced deportations to Haiti and other dangerous destinations. Türk warned that returning individuals to such volatile environments exposes them to the risk of irreparable harm and stressed the necessity of guaranteed due process. As rights advocates press Haitian officials to prepare for the wider implications of the terminated immigration protections, the fate of hundreds of thousands of former TPS beneficiaries remains uncertain.
