ICE has removed nearly 200 Haitian illegal immigrants from the United States this month, including convicted child sex offenders, gang members, and a man found guilty of 18 counts of human smuggling for profit.
DHS officials announced on August 20, 2026, that 162 illegal immigrants were deported to Haiti on a single flight, part of a broader push that has sent almost 200 Haitian nationals back this month alone. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed the operation in a public statement, and the criminal records of 14 named deportees paint a picture of serial violence, exploitation, and drug trafficking that persisted on American soil for years, in some cases decades, before federal immigration judges finally ordered them removed.
The deportations follow the Trump administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti in June 2025, a move the Supreme Court upheld 6-3 in June 2026. That ruling cleared the last legal obstacle, and ICE moved quickly. The flight landed in Cap-Haitien, a northern Haitian city, because gang violence has made Port-au-Prince's airport too dangerous to use, AP News reported.
Secretary Mullin did not mince words about who was on the plane. Breitbart News reported his statement:
"On the latest deportation flight back to Haiti, we deported dangerous criminals including pedophiles, gang members, drug traffickers, and violent assailants."
The criminal histories of the named deportees back that up. Mc Guyverson Jetin, described as a member of the Zoe Pound gang, had been convicted of four counts of lewd or lascivious battery involving a victim between the ages of 12 and 15, plus sexual battery. A federal immigration judge ordered him removed in June 2018, more than eight years before he was finally put on a plane.
Bermann Desty, who entered the country through Florida in February 2001 and became a lawful permanent resident, was convicted of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and arrested for cruelty toward a child, assault, and failure to register as a sex offender. His final removal order came July 23, 2026. Wilbur Senat, also admitted through Florida, was convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor. Ernst Joachim was convicted of a sexual offense involving corruption of minors and arrested for unlawful contact with a minor.
Joachim's case stands out for another reason. The Biden administration granted him Haitian Humanitarian Parole in September 2023, allowing him into the country. The Trump administration terminated that parole on June 12, 2025, and a federal immigration judge ordered him removed in April 2026.
Jean Renaud Pascal was convicted of 18 counts of alien smuggling for profit and conspiracy to bring inadmissible aliens into the United States. He had been admitted as a lawful permanent resident in September 2011 under the Obama administration. His final removal order was issued in November 2024, yet he remained in the country until this month's flight.
Several of the deportees entered the country illegally and were released by the Biden administration, only to rack up criminal convictions afterward or continue offending. Modeler Hyppolite, another Zoe Pound gang member, crossed the southern border illegally in 2024, was released, and was later convicted of second-degree assault on a pregnant woman.
Morel Bain illegally entered through Texas in September 2024, was released, and was convicted of felony exploitation and enticement. He was also arrested for failure to register as a sex offender and obscene communication. Diego Marseille illegally entered through Texas in September 2021, was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol, and was released by the Biden administration. He was later convicted of invasion of privacy and resisting law enforcement.
The pattern is consistent: illegal entry, release, criminal conduct, and years of delay before removal. Marseille's final order of removal did not come until July 29, 2026, nearly five years after Border Patrol first encountered him at the border.
Other deportees had been in the country far longer. Jean Daniel Henry first entered through Florida as a lawful permanent resident in 1982. Over the following decades, he compiled convictions for burglary, larceny, cocaine possession and distribution, marijuana possession, carrying a concealed weapon, fraud, and destroying evidence. His LPR status was eventually terminated, but his final removal order was not issued until September 2025, more than 40 years after he arrived.
Petit-Frere, admitted as a lawful permanent resident in 2009, was convicted of four counts of assault on a female, resisting a public officer, attempted robbery, robbery with a dangerous weapon, carrying a concealed weapon, breaking and entering, larceny of a firearm, and felon in possession of a firearm. He was also arrested for marijuana possession, larceny, breaking into a motor vehicle, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. His LPR renewal application was denied after his convictions, and a federal immigration judge ordered him removed on May 14, 2026.
Gregory Saintil, admitted in August 2010 under the Obama administration, was convicted of possession of cocaine and fentanyl with intent to sell. He was also arrested for kidnapping, domestic battery by strangulation, and aggravated battery. Davidson Athis, described as a member of the 88 Crush Mob gang, was convicted of first-degree assault and arrested for conspiracy to commit assault, burglary, fraud, drug possession, reckless endangerment, and other charges.
Sebastien Sainvil was convicted of assault by strangulation and breaking and entering to terrorize. Telifait Telifort, who illegally entered in October 2008 and was granted work authorization under the Obama administration in March 2010, was convicted of driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury. His work authorization expired in July 2019, but he was not ordered removed until July 2026.
The legal foundation for these deportations rests on the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in June 2026, which affirmed the Trump administration's authority to end TPS for Haiti. The program, originally created to provide temporary refuge for nationals of countries hit by natural disasters or armed conflict, was first extended to Haiti in 2010 after a devastating earthquake. Successive administrations renewed it for more than 15 years.
A Trump administration statement, whose specific speaker was not identified, framed the issue bluntly:
"Despite the best efforts from activist judges, the Supreme Court reaffirmed what we already know: The T in TPS stands for temporary. TPS was never designed to be permanent, yet previous administrations have used it as a de facto amnesty program for decades."
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson echoed that position after the ruling, telling Fox News that TPS "was never intended to be a pathway to permanent status or legal residency." DHS General Counsel James Percival called the decision "a win for the rule of law and common sense."
Approximately 350,000 Haitians had held TPS status before the termination, and the ruling affected roughly one million people from more than a dozen countries overall. The Washington Examiner reported that ICE had already sent more than 350 deportation flights to Haiti since 2020, with seven flights in 2026 alone as of mid-July.
ICE is now preparing to ramp up enforcement operations targeting Haitian nationals whose TPS has expired, with Ohio, particularly Springfield, home to a large Haitian population, expected to be a focus. The first wave of deportations is already underway, and the operational tempo shows no sign of slowing.
The deportees landed in Cap-Haitien, where Haitian officials said they would provide temporary housing and modest financial assistance. Jean Negot Bonheur Delva, director general of Haiti's National Office of Migration, told reporters that Haiti had no choice but to accept the flights.
"It is not the Haitian state that asks for them to be sent back. Our mission is to welcome migrants of forced return."
Haiti's Group Supporting Refugees and Returnees was more direct, stating that "Haiti is not ready to receive this number of migrants who were in the TPS program." Gang violence has displaced a record 1.5 million people inside Haiti, and more than 3,100 were killed from January to June, according to United Nations statistics cited by Just The News.
The conditions in Haiti are grim. But the conditions these deportees created for their American victims, children sexually abused, women beaten, communities flooded with cocaine and fentanyl, residents terrorized by gang members who should never have been on U.S. soil in the first place, were grim, too. And for years, the system that was supposed to protect those victims chose not to act.
Some of these men had final removal orders dating back years. Mc Guyverson Jetin's order was issued in 2018. Jean Renaud Pascal's was issued in late 2024. The broader consequences of TPS expiration are still playing out across the country, from New York City workplaces to Ohio neighborhoods. But for the 162 people on this flight, the delay is over.
A program called "temporary" that lasted 15 years, sheltering convicted child sex offenders and human smugglers along the way, was not a humanitarian gesture. It was a failure of enforcement, and it took a Supreme Court ruling and a new administration to finally end it.
