OCTOBER 30, 2026
Contact: media@haitianbridge.org,  info@haitianbridge.org,  

SAN DIEGO, CA — Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) strongly condemns the reported deportation of approximately 140 individuals on October 29^th, 2026, as the country confronts an escalating humanitarian and security catastrophe marked by widespread gang violence, mass displacement, and an extraordinary buildup of foreign military forces.

The deportations come as Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has deployed thousands of soldiers to Haiti, alongside ongoing operations involving Erik Prince’s private security firm  and the United Nations-authorized, U.S.-supported Gang Suppression Force, similar to what one would witness in a war zone. Nearly 1.5 million people are internally displaced in Haiti, where armed groups continue to perpetrate killings, kidnappings, sexual violence, and attacks against civilians. Despite these conditions, the Trump administration terminated Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and employment authorization designation effective July 27, 2026, jeopardizing protections for more than 300,000 Haitian nationals  living in the United States and who have contributed to our nation’s economy.

Guerline Jozef, Founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, issued the following statement:

“The United States cannot acknowledge that Haiti requires thousands of foreign troops, private military contractors, and an internationally authorized security force to confront an unprecedented security emergency, while simultaneously pretending that Haiti is safe enough to receive deportees,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “This is not simply a contradiction in American foreign policy; it is a profound failure of moral leadership and human responsibility. These are human beings, not numbers on a deportation manifest. They are mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters being returned to a country where even heavily armed international forces are struggling to operate safely. We cannot claim to be restoring security in Haiti while knowingly placing Haitian lives in danger. The United States must immediately halt these deportations

In April 2026, the House of Representatives TPS protections under the leadership of Rep. Ayana Pressley with bipartisan support to extend TPS protections for Haitian nationals. Senators Edward Markey and Lisa Blunt Rochester subsequently introduced S. 4814  to provide renewed TPS protections, which currently has 46 Cosponsors. Despite these efforts, the Senate has yet to enact legislation safeguarding Haitian families from deportation.

HBA urges the Senate to immediately pass legislation restoring TPS protections for Haitian nationals and calls on the Department of Homeland Security to suspend all deportations to Haiti and other countries facing humanitarian and insecurity crises. The United States must uphold its domestic and international legal obligations, including protections against returning individuals to persecution, torture, or other qualifying serious harm.

The Trump administration cannot credibly deny the dangers facing Haitian nationals when its own government has repeatedly acknowledged those very risks. The U.S. Department of State maintains its level 4 travel warning for Haiti, Do Not Travel, restricts the movement of American diplomatic personnel, and acknowledges widespread killings, kidnappings, and armed violence. Federal aviation restrictions further underscore the severity of the security crisis. Yet Haitian nationals continue to face deportation to the same country the United States warns its own citizens not to enter. If Haiti is too dangerous for American citizens and diplomatic personnel, the administration must explain why it continues to send Haitian families into those same conditions.

The United States through its own actions on the international stage, in September 2025, Washington co-sponsored a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing a multinational force  of up to 5,550 personnel to confront escalating gang violence, which the U.S., will finance. Haitian officials say they are Struggling to accommodate the growing number of individuals deported from the United States under the Trump administration, authorities are requesting additional time and resources to prepare for the anticipated influx of returnees.

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