Haitians deported from the United States disembark from a charter flight at Cap-Haïtien International Airport, Haiti, August 27, 2026.
(Washington, DC) – Since ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti in late July 2026, US authorities have deported hundreds of Haitians back to their country, where they face threats to their lives and safety and receive little to no support, Human Rights Watch said today. The US Senate should urgently pass House-approved legislation that would reinstate TPS for Haitians.
According to Haiti’s National Office for Migration (Office National de la Migration), more than 450 people have been deported from the United States to Haiti since July. Many had lived in the United States for years and were separated from US citizen family members, while others said they had pending asylum claims in the US. Haitian authorities lack the funding, staff, and policy frameworks to safely receive and assist deportees, Haitian government officials told Human Rights Watch.
“The United States is returning people, some with pending asylum claims, to a country that doesn’t have the capacity to protect them from violence, let alone help them find food and shelter,” said Nathalye Cotrino, senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The US government should immediately halt these removals.”
Deportation flights to Cap-Haïtien, a city on Haiti’s northern coast whose population has tripled amid a nationwide surge in criminal violence and hunger, have climbed from about once a month to once a week. That city is presently the only viable point of entry for flights because criminal groups have made the airport in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, unsafe.
Human Rights Watch visited Cap-Haïtien from August 24 to 30. Researchers interviewed 44 Haitian deportees who had arrived on the first two deportation flights following the end of TPS, on Au
