First US Deportation Flight Since TPS Termination Lands 161 in Cap-Haïtien

The US deported more than 160 Haitians on a charter flight that departed an ICE hub in Alexandria, Louisiana and landed at Cap-Haïtien International Airport on August 20, 2026 — the first mass deportation flight since the Trump administration secured Supreme Court clearance to terminate Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitians, effective July 26, 2026. The flight bypassed Port-au-Prince because its main airport remains closed to commercial traffic under a US flight ban through early September due to gang violence that controls an estimated 70% of the capital; Haiti's migration office director Jean Négot Bonheur Delva said arriving deportees would be offered up to $65, food, and temporary shelter. Deportee Jean Diane Louis told reporters ICE 'took me without questioning me. They just sent me here,' while advocacy groups including Haiti's Group Supporting Refugees said the country 'is not ready to receive this number of migrants' amid 1.5 million already displaced by gang violence nationwide. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sent a same-day letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin calling the TPS termination a 'reckless and inhumane act' and warning New York would be forced to fire hundreds of essential Haitian and Salvadoran government workers by August 24.