Ninety-six Haitians deported From U.S. Arrive in Cap-Haïtien on Trump-Era Flight

CAP-HAÏTIEN —The Trump administration deported 96 Haitians, including popular social media blogger Hervé Laplante, to Cap-Haïtien International Airport on July 16 in what marks the administration’s first large-scale removal flight since promising to deport all undocumented immigrants without consideration or due process.

The group of 78 men and 18 women includes longtime U.S. residents caught in ICE’s intensified crackdown, many of whom were arrested during routine immigration appointments.

Laplante, a popular figure on social media, told The Haitian Times he plans to remain in Haiti temporarily before moving to Canada.

“Haiti is the true paradise,” Laplante said, covering his face with a gray sweatshirt at the northern police headquarters after leaving the airport with the other deportees under police guidance. 

“They try to turn it into hell. I’m staying here on vacation — my wife is from here — then I’m going to Canada.”

“I don’t regret anything from the U.S.,” he added. “Except for my family. I have a son, 11, and a daughter, 15, there. But they can visit me when I go to Canada.”

It is unclear if Laplante is eligible to enter Canada, but he showed The Haitian Times his Canadian passport.

This was the third flight carrying undocumented nationals to the country under President Donald Trump, whose administration has promised to deport undocumented immigrants without consideration or due process.

Several deportees interviewed by The Haitian Times said they were long-time U.S. residents arrested while trying to formalize their status.

One man said he was handcuffed during an interview for his green card. Another reported being detained at a court date for his citizenship application.

Only two deportees were considered ‘violent’, Frandy Étienne, one of the National Office of Migration (ONM) managers in the northern region, told The Haitian Times. He said he was not authorized to share the names or make their crimes public. 

The Miami Herald reported that Laplante was held for “fraudulently gaining status in the U.S.,” allegedly by marrying two women simultaneously. Laplante denied the claim, saying he was detained May 27 at a citizenship court date over a paperwork error. He spent six weeks in ICE custody before being deported.

Immigration appointment and probation check-in turned to ICE custody

The deportation is part of a sweeping campaign to expel migrants under Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy.

Among the group was William François, 33, who said ICE agents arrested him in March during a probation check-in for a driving offense. François moved to Florida at age three with his mother. He became undocumented at six after his mother’s asylum case was denied following a run-in with law enforcement.

His ex-wife had started filing for his citizenship, but she died of lupus in January 2020. Now back in Haiti after three decades in the U.S., François said he feels disoriented and fears for his future.

“They’re being strict and that’s messed up,” François said. “Everybody’s getting shipped off, and some don’t even know anything about the country. I don’t know anything about Haiti.” 

François speaks limited Haitian Creole. His family paid for a hotel for him to spend the night and planned to pick him up the next day to move to Fort-Liberté, a northeastern commune.

“Like they shoot me off to ICE for a driving offense?” François said. “Since Trump entered office, he wants to make everything a big deal. I got deported over something so simple.”

François, who worked as an electrician and pool technician in Miami, left behind two children, ages 8 and 12.

“I gotta spend whatever time away from them because of the deportation order,” François said. 

François hopes his lawyer can help him return to the U.S., but for now he plans to move to the Bahamas within three months.

Another deportee, Noé Joseph, 71, said ICE arrested him May 29 during a residency application interview his son was sponsoring in Orlando.

Joseph left Borgne, Haiti’s northern region, in 1981 for the Bahamas, then moved illegally to Florida in 1984. He gained Temporary Protected Status in 2010, but it expired in 2012.

During 41 years in Florida, Joseph worked construction and as a dishwasher while supporting his family in Haiti. He fathered eight children between Haiti, Nassau and Florida.

Joseph will be reunited with the wife he left in Cap-Haïtien, for the first time in 44 years.

“I will stay in my country and will die here,” Joseph said. 

More deportation flights are expected and ONM officials pledged to assist returnees.

“We did everything we could to welcome them with dignity and respect so they can feel comfortable in their country,” Étienne said. “We want to keep working with them so they can get integrated into our society.”

“I’m going to miss the hell out of my children,” François said.  “I’m going to miss the hell out of them. I’m always there for Christmas, for their birthdays, and I tried to make sure they’re good. I don’t even know how long I will be gone for. It’s like a punch in the gut.”

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