The United States government deported more than 100 people to Haiti on Thursday, as deportation flights to the troubled Caribbean nation increase amid persistent gang violence.
The flight departed from Louisiana and landed in the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haïtien.
“This is the third consecutive deportation flight to Haiti on a Thursday, marking a transition from monthly to weekly flights,” said the ICE Flight Monitor, operated by the immigrant rights organization Human Rights First, which tracks deportation flight data.
More than 200 people were deported to Haiti in late August on two separate flights.
Nicolas Mardochée, a coordinator with Haiti’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Associated Press that 101 deportees were aboard Thursday’s flight. He said the group included Renan Hédouville, a former director of Haiti’s Office for the Protection of Citizens who is accused of corruption.
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Some activists have denounced the deportation of people to Haiti, including Haitians who held Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and were legally living and working in the United States.
Those deported are being sent to Cap-Haïtien because Port-au-Prince’s international airport, the country’s main airport, is considered too dangerous.
