Despite the surge in deadly gang violence and widespread instability in Haiti, the United States has deported dozens of Haitian citizens back to their country on a repatriation flight.
An official from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) informed Al Jazeera that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out the deportation of approximately 50 Haitian nationals to Haiti.
Individuals were only removed if they were found to lack a legal basis to stay in the US, according to the spokesperson.
The specific details of the flight’s origin and destination were not disclosed in the brief statement, prompting further inquiries from Al Jazeera.
The Miami Herald revealed that 74 Haitians were on board an ICE flight bound for Cap-Haitien in northern Haiti, departing from Louisiana with a stopover in Miami, Florida.
This marks the first deportation flight to Haiti from the US since January, drawing criticism from rights advocates who condemned the Biden administration for potentially endangering Haitians.
Nathalye Cotrino of Human Rights Watch denounced the deportations, citing Haiti’s dire human rights and humanitarian crisis as justification for halting such actions.
Haiti has been plagued by escalating gang violence, exacerbated by the power vacuum left by the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, with further unrest following attacks on key institutions in Port-au-Prince in late February.
🇭🇹The US…
Source from www.aljazeera.com