July 12, 2025
Twenty Haitian nationals were quietly deported to Port-au-Prince last Tuesday aboard a military aircraft originating from the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The covert operation contradicts previous denials by the Trump administration that it intended to use the base as a holding site for migrants.
Among those expelled, eleven had reportedly been intercepted at sea near the Bahamas, while the remaining nine were transferred from detention centers inside the United States. A Haitian official said that several of the returnees described being shuffled from one facility to another in under a week.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had publicly dismissed the existence of such a plan, labeling media reports as “fake news.” However, behind the scenes, President Donald Trump had ordered preparations to accommodate up to 30,000 migrants at Guantánamo—reviving a policy of large-scale detention.
The deportations have drawn sharp criticism from human rights advocates, including Guerline Jozef, head of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. “These individuals were held without legal counsel, without family notification, and were returned without explanation. It’s a flagrant violation of basic human rights,” she stated.
A second deportation flight carrying 61 Haitians was expected on Wednesday at Cap-Haïtien International Airport, the only functioning international airport in the country. For human rights groups, the use of military flights and secrecy underscores a harsh, opaque immigration policy that disregards international standards and due process.
