US Deportation Flight Lands in Haiti Amid Gang Violence
A US deportation flight landed in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, carrying over 50 people, including a Bahamian-born boxer who says he knows nothing about Haiti.
A U.S. deportation flight touched down in the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haïtien on Thursday, carrying more than 50 people, including two minors, according to an official with Haiti's National Office of Migration. The flight was diverted from the capital's main airport in Port-au-Prince, which is considered too dangerous due to ongoing gang violence.
Among the deportees was Jay Dabelus, a professional boxer born in the Bahamas. Dabelus, who said he left the Bahamas at age six and lived in the United States for over 20 years, expressed his unfamiliarity with Haiti. "I don't know anything about Haiti," he said. "I wasn't born here."
Dabelus, who was waiting at immigration control, described his precarious situation: "It is nice here, but I'm trying to move on. I don't have any resources, family members, or people to aid me."
Thursday's arrival marks the second deportation flight since Temporary Protected Status (TPS) ended for some 350,000 Haitians in the U.S. The first flight landed on August 20, carrying more than 160 people, including TPS holders.
Like previous deportees, those arriving on Thursday covered their faces with blankets as they walked from the airfield, a precaution for their safety. The deportations come in the wake of a recent gang attack that left 47 dead and more than 50 kidnapped, highlighting the volatile security situation in Haiti.