AUGUST 24, 2026
Contact: info@haitianbridge.org,  Paige Censale, pcensale@haitianbridge.org

SAN DIEGO, CA. — The Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) is calling on the United States government to immediately suspend deportations to Haiti following an armed gang attack in Kenscoff that killed at least 30 people and saw homes burned . The attack comes just days after the United States deported more than 160 Haitian nationals to Haiti, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision allowing the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 350,000 Haitian nationals. Meanwhile, between March and July alone, the United Nations documented at least 613 people killed, 375 injured, and more than 18,000 displaced in violence  concentrated in Cité Soleil and the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac. Furthermore, we urge the Haitian government to immediately review its contract with Erik Prince and Vectus Global and pursue all available legal remedies to hold the company criminally and financially accountable for the unlawful killings of thousands innocent  Haitian civilians carried out in connection with its operations in Haiti. No private contractor should operate above the law or be shielded from accountability when Haitian lives are lost. 

“The Supreme Court’s decision may have cleared the legal path for the administration to terminate TPS, but it does not make Haiti safe,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “The reality on the ground is undeniable: people are being killed, homes are being burned, communities are being overrun by armed gangs, and more than a million people have already been displaced. Just days ago, the United States sent more than 160 people back to Haiti while deliberately avoiding Port-au-Prince because of the security threat. We cannot say Haiti is too dangerous for a U.S. flight to land and simultaneously claim it is safe enough to send human beings there. What the Trump-Vance Administration is doing is cruel.” 

HBA is calling on the administration to immediately stop deportation flights to Haiti and conduct a new, comprehensive assessment of country conditions before any further removals occur. In the interim, we urge the U.S. Senate to extend TPS for Haitians for the next three years.  The Supreme Court’s ruling does not erase the extraordinary humanitarian and security crisis facing Haiti, nor does it relieve the United States of its obligations under immigration and human-rights law. The deadly attack in Kenscoff is the latest evidence that returning Haitians to Haiti under current conditions can expose them to grave and foreseeable danger. 

ABOUT HAITIAN BRIDGE ALLIANCE

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “The Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies, foreign policy, and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. HBA also seeks to elevate the issues unique to Black migrants and builds solidarity and collective movement toward policy change. Anpil men chay pa lou (“Many hands make the load light”). Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook: @haitianbridge