U.S. deports more than 100 people to Haiti as gang violence persists

CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti — The U.S. government deported more than 100 people to Haiti on Thursday as it ramps up flights to the troubled Caribbean country.

The flight departed from Louisiana and landed in the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haitien.

“This is the third consecutive Thursday deportation flight to Haiti, marking a shift from monthly to weekly flights,” said Human Rights First’s ICE Flight Monitor, which tracks flight data.

More than 200 people were deported to Haiti in late August on two different flights.

Nicolas Mardochée, a coordinator with Haiti’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Associated Press that 101 deportees were aboard Thursday’s flight. He said that among them was Renan Hédouville, who once led Haiti’s Office of Citizen Protection and is accused of corruption.

Activists have decried the deportation of those including Haitians who had Temporary Protected Status and were living and working legally in the United States.

The deportees arrive in Cap-Haitien because the main international airport in Port-au-Prince is considered too dangerous.

Gangs control an estimated 70% of Haiti’s capital and swaths of land in the country’s central region.

Gang violence has displaced a record of nearly 1.5 million people across Haiti, where more than 3,050 people…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business