After President Donald Trump’s administration ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, migrants from the country residing in the United States are now self-deporting to Canada. The end of the TPS program was approved by the Supreme Court in June 2026. Haitian immigrants were awarded protected status after an earthquake leveled the Caribbean country over 15 years ago.
New reports have emerged that Haitians, rather than returning home, are self-deporting to America’s neighbors to the north. Canada is among the top destinations for Haitians who are looking for places to relocate outside of the U.S. A piece published by CNN chronicled the self-deportation process of a Haitian native named Gemima Cadet and outlined the route that many have taken to leave the country.
Many Haitians trekked across a road that goes from upstate New York to Montreal where they made asylum claims right at the border. However, changes to current rules have made it much more difficult to make such claims today. However, that hasn’t stopped many Haitians who have now had their deportation protections revoked from trying.
“Some people… knowing fully well all the risks and all the troubles, they’re like, ‘I will give it a shot, and I will try, because I have nothing else, and I cannot go back to Haiti,’” Fedora Mathieu, immigration and refugee lawyer based out of Ottawa, the capital of Canada, went on to say. Mathieu’s office has been fielding an ever-growing number of calls from Haitians located in the U.S. who want to leave, but not return to their country of origin.
While there are many migrants from different nationalities that are requesting asylum at ports of entry all along the Canada-U.S. border, those hailing from Haiti are at the top of the list, according to data released by the Canada Border Services Agency. According to a report from Breitbart News, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents announced that they have started repatriating Haitian migrants to Haiti.
The report stated that the first deportation flight repatriated over 160 Haitians. ICE agents also pointed out that Haitian deportees included individuals convicted of child sex crimes, human smuggling, and assault, along with violent gang members. Cadet, who spoke with CNN, told the outlet that returning home to Haiti was not an option as it was too dangerous. She then said that it was beginning to feel too dangerous to stay in the U.S. too.
Many of Cadet’s friends told her to be patient and hold off on self-deporting, but she felt that she could no longer keep her life on hold. Quite a few Haitian immigrants feel it’s still not safe to return home, as the United Nations has reported violent gangs controlling large portions of the country. However, Trump administration officials say that TPS has been functioning like a de facto form of amnesty and noted that the program was never intended to be permanent.
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“For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson went on to say in a recent statement to CNN. Many immigrants were hoping Canada would welcome them with open arms, but heading north is proving to be harder than they imagined.
Watch a report on the town and its Haitian migrants here: