Five Haitian immigrants from Springfield have been deported back to Haiti after the Trump administration revoked their legal protected status, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
Theresa Hice-Fromille, a board member of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, said the five were among more than 470 people deported from the United States to Haiti between August 20 and September 17, citing Haiti’s National Office for Migration. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in late June that the administration could end temporary protected status for roughly 330,000 Haitians who fled violence in their home country. Those protections officially expired July 27.
Deportation flights to Haiti have increased from once a month to once a week, and are now landing in Cap-Haitien because criminal gangs have made the airport in Port-au-Prince unsafe. The U.S. State Department maintains a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory for Haiti, warning of crime, kidnapping, terrorism, and civil unrest.