WASHINGTON, D.C. – Over the weekend, Haiti’s government announced they are implementing a three-month state of emergency in the country’s central region known as Haiti’s “rice basket”. According to reports, gangs have been killing farmers or forcing them to abandon their fields as they destroy nearby communities. Now with the Trump administration is looking to deport thousands of Haitians in the coming months. United Nations experts said it will only add to the crisis.
“The security differences had much deteriorated,” said Bill O’Neill, the United Nations designated expert on Haiti. His last trip to Haiti in March 2025 was noticeably more intense than his previous trips the year before.
“Lots of parts of the capital had been overrun by gangs that had not been before,” said O’Neill. “There was a strict curfew in place and it was much more tense. The other thing I could see in people’s eyes and hear in their voices, Haitian friends I’ve known for a long time that have been through tough times, there was fear because at that point the gangs looked like they might take over the whole city.”
For years, Haiti has been plagued by gang violence. Even with the additional forces from Kenya to help the Haitian police, O’Neill said its not enough.
“Get the force in there that’s the size and with the power that’s needed to take on the gangs,” said O’Neill when asked what Haiti needs to combat the violence. “Meaningful sanctions on the politicians and oligarchs who are aligned with the gangs. Not all are but some are; and then lastly stopping the weapons flow especially from the United States.”
Organizations estimates about 1.3-million Haitians have been forced to flee their homes. The World Food Programme estimates 6-million Haitians, or half the population, does not have enough food to eat.
“The United States is providing an additional 93-million dollars to treat nearly one-million children suffering from malnutrition with life saving ready to use therapeutic food, RUTF,” said Tommy Pigott, the principal deputy spokesperson with the State Department. “From and by American producers.”
Some of that assistance will go to Haiti. O’Neill said the potential deportation of Haitians back to their country could potentially worsen the crisis.
“It’s no place to send anyone back to, its really hell on earth right now,” said O’Neill. “It’s not safe, its extremely dangerous and there’s very little there to support people if they return. Often they have very little or no family connections or their family and friends are already completely overburdened with survival, so it would be a catastrophic situation or more so forcibly deporting Haitians in big numbers.”
According to online sources, approximately 350-thousand Haitians are in the US hold Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS gives people who are unable to return to their home country due to unsafe conditions, eligibility to work in the US and protects them from deportation. The Department of Homeland Security determined Haiti no longer meets the conditions for TPS. The designation now expires in February of 2026 for Haitians, which could open them up to possible deportations. We asked the State Department about that:
“We’ve seen actions from this administration to encourage stability in Haiti,” said Pigott. “We’ve seen actions and announcements taken to go after those leading to instability in Haiti, announcements the Secretary himself has made. We see this aid from American producers by American producers going to these 13 countries. In terms of TPS that’s what you’re referring to, I would refer you to DHS for those decisions but we have seen actions here from the State Department to encourage stability. Again, we’ve seen this announcement of aid going to Haiti and other countries as well.”
We reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, but did not hear back.
