Haitians Deported From U.S. Are Left Broke and Stranded
Hundreds have been deported to Haiti in recent weeks, and some say they have been left with no money, no protection from gangs and no place to go.
Dozens of deportees are arriving in the Haitian city of Cap Haitien weekly as the Trump administration pushes to remove Haitians who lack legal immigration status in the United States, and some are now marooned in an unfamiliar place.
More than 80 people were returned last week, often with only the U.S. government-issued sweatpants and T-shirts, and with immigration court documents stuffed in their pockets. Many returned broke, saying their valuables had disappeared during the trip and they now lacked the cash to get home.
The road out of Cap Haitien, on Haiti’s northern coast, is controlled by gangs that extract tolls from drivers and kidnap travelers. Five police officers who tried the trip by bus recently were murdered.
A day after being deported, Reginald Dorvilma, 36, sat stranded on Friday outside the Cap Haitien police station, making phone calls. He needed to find his way through gang territory to Les Cayes, his hometown on the other side of the country.
The Haitian immigration authorities had given him and the other adults who arrived on the latest deportation flight 10,000 Haitian gourdes — the equivalent of about $80. On his first night back, he said, he had spent about $20 at a low-end hotel and then bought a change of clothes. He had less than $40 left.
