“I fled Haiti to save my life. Now they have sent me back here to die.”
Since ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti in July 2026, US authorities have deported hundreds of Haitians back to their country, where they face threats to their lives and safety.
Deportees are being returned to spreading violence and severe hunger and then left without shelter, safe transportation, or meaningful support.
Since July, more than 450 people have been deported from the United States to Haiti. Many had lived in the US for years and were separated from US citizen family members, while others said they had pending asylum claims.
But Haiti lacks the funding and policy frameworks to adequately receive and assist returnees, let alone keep them safe and help them find food and shelter.
Human Rights Watch researchers visited Cap-Haïtien in late August and interviewed 44 Haitian deportees who had arrived on the first two deportation flights following the end of TPS.
TPS is a mechanism under US law that the government can invoke to prevent deportation to countries that present dangerous conditions until those conditions improve.
Most people interviewed said they fled Haiti because of the country’s longstanding security and humanitarian crises, which have only worsened over the years.
Upon returning and registering with officials at the airport in Haiti, deportees were left to fend for themselves, and many did not know what to do or where to go next.
“I cannot return to La Saline,” said one deportee from the August 27 flight, describing his Port-au-Prince neighborhood. “Criminals still control the neighborhood. I left because I feared they would kill me, and now I have been sent back to the same danger.”
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