U.S. deports 57 more people to Haiti during gang violence surge
Aug. 28 (UPI) — The United States deported 57 people to Haiti, as Haitian authorities faced growing criticism for providing few details about efforts to rescue more than 50 people kidnapped in a deadly gang attack.
The charter flight, which carried former recipients of temporary protected status and families with children born abroad, landed Thursday at Cap-Haïtien International Airport with 51 men and six women, according to Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste.
Kerlande Desauguste, an official with Haiti’s National Migration Office, said the deportees had varying immigration backgrounds. Some were former Temporary Protected Status program participants, while others had received humanitarian parole or had pending asylum or immigration proceedings.
Families on the flight included children born in the United States and Brazil, including a 1-year-old born in the United States, Haitian outlet Rezo Nòdwès reported.
The flight was the second from the United States to Haiti in eight days. A flight carrying 161 people arrived in Cap-Haïtien on Aug. 20, bringing the total number deported during that period to 218.
The increase in deportations follows the termination of temporary protected status for Haitians in the United States. Haitian authorities said the deportation flights could become more frequent, even as legal challenges to the termination continue.
The latest flight arrived days after members of the Viv Ansanm gang coalition attacked Kenscoff, in the mountains above Port-au-Prince, killing at least 47 people and abducting more than 50.
At least five children were among those killed, while 22 victims were reportedly executed inside a religious compound where they had sought shelter, according to the United Nations.
Haitian police have not announced the release of any hostages or arrests directly connected to the attack.
Asked at a news conference Thursday what police planned to do about the kidnapped residents, police spokesman Garry Desrosiers said operational details could not be discussed publicly.
The Haitian National Police on Thursday replaced the head of its Kenscoff jurisdiction after criticism from residents. Chief Commissioner Jean-Pierre Ketler Mauriceau replaced Inspector Nikenson Cadet and was tasked with reinforcing police positions and improving the force’s operational capacity.
Police also announced Thursday they had opened investigations into the attack and whether complicity or negligence within the security forces allowed armed men to enter central Kenscoff.
The violence displaced 2,647 people from 702 households, the International Organization for Migration said in a report released Wednesday. Seventy-seven percent took shelter with host families in neighboring Pétion-Ville, while the remainder moved into three displacement sites.
At least 3,050 people were killed and 1,401 injured by violence across Haiti during the first six months of 2026, according to United Nations figures.