U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday cleared the path for deporting certain lawful permanent residents, stating that Washington had determined some individuals provided support to Haitian gang leaders linked to a group designated by the U.S. as a “terrorist” organization.
Rubio in a statement said certain U.S. lawful permanent residents had supported and collaborated with gang leaders tied to Viv Ansanm, the armed alliance that controls most of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, which President Donald Trump’s administration labeled a Foreign Terrorist Organization in May.
Following the determination, the Department of Homeland Security can pursue the deportation of the lawful permanent residents, also known as green-card holders, Rubio added. It was unclear how many people could be targeted for deportation, and no individuals were named in his statement.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said late on Monday that its Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested Pierre Reginald Boulos, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. and citizen of Haiti, over alleged engagement in violence and contribution to “destabilization of Haiti.”
The Miami Herald described Boulos, 69, as “an influential Haitian businessman and controversial political powerbroker” who was an American-born entrepreneur and physician.
Trump To Ramp Up Deportations
The move by Rubio comes as the Trump administration has sought to ramp up deportations as part of its wide-ranging efforts to fulfill the president’s hardline immigration agenda, with the secretary of state making unprecedented use of his power to try to revoke the visas and green cards of pro-Palestinian student protesters.
“The United States will not allow individuals to enjoy the benefits of legal status in our country while they are facilitating the actions of violent organizations or supporting criminal terrorist organizations,” Rubio said on Monday.
Stephen Yale-Loehr, a retired immigration law professor at Cornell University, said that prior to this Trump administration, trying to take away someone’s permanent-resident status in this manner was “very rare” but that the administration had shown a willingness to target students.
He said it seemed unlikely that many Haitians would have their green card revoked as a result of the policy because of the difficulty of identifying them and then proving the affiliation in immigration court.
“Three years from now, how many people from Haiti will be deported under this ground? I think very few,” he said.
Haiti’s transitional government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Almost 5,000 people have been killed in Haiti between October 2024 and June 2025 amid worsening gang violence nationwide, according to a U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights report.
Immigration Crackdown
The surge in violence is deepening Haiti’s humanitarian crisis, destabilizing the country and raising concerns of spillover effects in the region.
The gang conflict in Haiti has been met with little international response, while neighbouring countries, including the U.S., have continued to deport migrants back to the Caribbean nation despite pleas by the United Nations to stop the practice, citing humanitarian concerns.
Trump has taken several steps to strip deportation relief and work permits from Haitians in the U.S., although a federal judge earlier this month blocked an attempt to end Temporary Protected Status for more than half a million Haitians.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump falsely said during a debate that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pets.
Washington’s designation of Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif as terrorist groups followed similar measures made recently for Latin American drug cartels and was intended to isolate the groups, denying them access to financing from U.S. people or companies.
(With inputs from Reuters)
