Escalation: United States deports over 160 to Cap-Haitien, Haiti

A U.S. deportation flight carrying 161 people landed in Cap-Haitien on Thursday, the first removal flight to Haiti since protections ended. It used Cap-Haitien because Port-au-Prince’s main airport is considered too dangerous, with U.S. commercial flights to the capital suspended through early September.

Arrivals wore white and many covered their faces for safety as they disembarked. The group included people previously on Temporary Protected Status and Haitians who had served prison sentences. Some were not born in Haiti but are of Haitian descent.

Each deportee was offered up to $65 and food and drink on arrival. Those unable to reach their homes were to be hosted in secure spaces. Some planned to travel south, where gangs control key roads and have been known to open fire at random on passing vehicles.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources