Haitian businessman Pierre Reginald Boulos to be deported to Colombia amid legal fight

Pierre Reginald Boulos, a Haitian businessman and political figure, is set to be deported to Colombia as U.S. authorities move forward with his removal, according to a federal court order. Sources close to the situation, however, allege that Boulos was given a choice of removal to Mexico or Colombia.

The decision comes just days after a judge ruled that Boulos should receive a bond hearing, marking a partial legal victory in his challenge to months of immigration detention.

Under a court-approved agreement, the Department of Homeland Security plans to transport Boulos to a South Florida airport, where he will board a commercial flight to Colombia within 15 days of the final removal order. The government is barred from deporting him to Haiti during this process.

Boulos has been detained since mid-2025 after U.S. officials determined he was deportable under a rarely used provision of immigration law tied to foreign policy concerns. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio concluded that Boulos’ alleged involvement in activities including violence, gang support and trafficking contributed to instability in Haiti, making his presence in the United States a risk to U.S. foreign policy interests.

Boulos “engaged in a campaign of violence, gang support, and trafficking weapons and drugs that has contributed to the destabilization of Haiti,” Rubio said, “allowing [the] Petitioner to remain in the United States undermines U.S. foreign policy interest in stabilizing Haiti and the region[.]”

Boulos has denied the allegations and mounted a legal challenge to remain in the United States, arguing both that he is a U.S. citizen and that his detention was unlawful.

At the center of his argument was a technical but consequential question: whether the government could hold him without a bond hearing under federal immigration regulations.

His attorneys argued that the regulation used to detain him improperly expands the category of people subject to mandatory detention. They said the Immigration and Nationality Act allows bond hearings for most detainees, except for a narrowly defined group that does not include individuals like Boulos.In filings, Boulos maintained that he is neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community and should be eligible for release while his case proceeds.

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