The Tribune

The Department of Immigration repatriated 62 Haitian nationals yesterday, as Dominican and Chinese nationals were also sent home in separate exercises.

The Haitian group was made up of 51 men and 11 women. Officials did not say how many Dominicans and Chinese nationals were removed.

Chedville “Chad” Adams, Acting Assistant Director of Immigration responsible for Operations, warned anyone in the country illegally that they faced the same fate.

“Those individuals who do not have status in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, you are subject to arrest, prosecution, deportation and immediate restriction from coming back to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,” Mr Adams said.

Yesterday’s exercise is the latest in a string of removals this year. In September, The Bahamas repatriated 184 Haitians to Cap-Haïtien in a two-part operation. A Bahamasair flight left New Providence with 29 detainees and picked up 71 more in Inagua, carrying 100 people on its first leg.

On August 27, 116 Haitians were flown to Cap-Haïtien: 79 men, 33 women and four minors.

In June, the department reported that 114 Haitian nationals had been repatriated.

Days after the May 12 general election, 107 Haitians were deported to Cap-Haïtien on a Bahamasair flight on May 15. The group included 22 women and five minors. The department said many had overstayed their permitted time in the country, while others had been detained for landing illegally.

The removals come as Haiti remains gripped by gang violence. Gangs control an estimated 70 percent of Port-au-Prince, and deportation flights have been landing in the northern city of Cap-Haïtien because the capital’s main airport is considered too dangerous.

The United States has also stepped up deportations to Haiti. After ending Temporary Protected Status for about 350,000 Haitians, it sent its first deportation flight on August 20, carrying more than 160 people, and moved from monthly to weekly flights within weeks.

The Bahamas repatriated 2,910 foreign nationals in 2024, 2,196 of them Haitians, according to figures given to Parliament last year. Repatriation costs exceeded $1.5m over the 11 months before June 2025.