US set to deport permanent residents over Haitian gang links – DW – 07/22/2025
The US has taken steps to deport lawful permanent residents after authorities claimed they had supported gangs in Haiti, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Monday.
Rubio said the move would target those who supported and collaborated with Viv Ansanm, the armed alliance that controls most of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, and which President Donald Trump's administration labeled a Foreign Terrorist Organization back in May.
"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.
Haiti has seen spiraling gang violence after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, with almost 5,000 people killed between October 2024 and June 2025 and many more displaced, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
No individuals were named in Rubio's statement on Monday.
But the announcement came as the Associated Press reported that federal agents had arrested prominent Haitian businessman, doctor and former presidential hopeful Pierre Reginald Boulos in Miami.
Boulos was born in the US but renounced his citizenship in order to run for president in Haiti.
Late last week, he was reportedly taken to Krome North Service Processing Center in Florida, a detention center that Human Rights Watch said in a recent report is one of three in the state that "flagrantly violate international human rights standards."
Neither US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) nor an attorney for Boulos immediately clarified why he was arrested.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
9 minutes ago
- DW
German government takes tougher tone with Israel – DW – 08/02/2025
Germany's foreign minister visited Jerusalem on Friday and insisted that more aid be let into Gaza. Despite the tough talk, experts say it's unlikely there will be any consequences if Israel doesn't do as Germany asks. After his talks with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives from the United Nations in Jerusalem, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul tried to put more pressure on the Israeli government. On Friday he made an urgent appeal to the Israelis: The government should immediately allow the UN to help the hungry people in Gaza. "That is why we call on Israel to allow the UN to transport and distribute the aid safely," Wadephul said, while in Jerusalem. "This was also part of my discussion with the Israeli government yesterday. The humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip must be ended now, with the help of the efficient, established UN system." The day before Wadephul had described the situation in Gaza in dramatic tones. The death and suffering there was "unimaginable," he said. Wadephul also appealed to the militant group Hamas, asking them to stop fighting and to return all the hostages they still held. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Germany, the US, Israel and other countries. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Israel's foreign minister Gideon Saar didn't publicly express an opinion on Germany's suggestions. But Wadephul told reporters he thought Germany's message had been understood. Saar did reject accusations from his colleague in the Israeli government, the far-right extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's minister of national security. On social media platform X, Ben-Gvir said that 80 years after the Holocaust, Germany was once again supporting Nazis. Before he left Germany, Wadephul had warned that Israel was becoming increasingly isolated internationally. He also said Berlin would respond to any unilateral actions by Israel and was critical of potential Israeli plans to annex the occupied West Bank. Israel's Saar answered Ben-Gvir on social media too. "I strongly reject Minister Ben-Gvir's statements about Germany. They are unnecessary and harmful. Germany is a friendly country and Foreign Minister Wadephul is a friend of Israel. This does not change, even when there are differences of opinion between us." Germany is still pushing for a two-state solution to the intractable problems in the Middle East. Wadephul confirmed the right of the Palestinians to their own state after he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday. However Netanyahu's government has rejected that idea in the recent past. Even as Germany criticizes the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Israel's foreign minister sees the settlements as justified. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had sent Wadephul to Israel after a meeting of the country's so-called security cabinet. This group includes the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, interior and finance, as well as various intelligence services. Wadephul's mission was to make it clear that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza must be resolved and he was also to assess whether and how the Israeli government could be convinced to do this. Over this weekend, he is to report back to the Chancellor and the security cabinet. The results of this are hard to predict. Whether the German government would use sanctions against Israel, stop weapons deliveries or recognize a Palestinian state is unclear. However observers in Berlin says it's unlikely any concrete steps will be taken, because of Germany's special responsibility towards Israel, after committing the Holocaust. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Criticism is likely but sanctions won't happen, says Martin Huber, the secretary general of the conservative, Bavaria-based Christian Social Union, or CSU. Even so, the tone German politicians are using is becoming sharper, as more and more pictures of starving children in Gaza emerge. The leader of the Social Democrats' parliamentary group, Dirk Wiese, told local journalists that the time for talk has passed. "We need political pressure and concrete progress," he said. The Social Democrats are part of Germany's governing coalition together with the CSU and the Christian Democratic Union, or CDU. Up until now the German government has been holding back, Andreas Reinicke, the director of the German Orient-Institute, told public radio Deutschlandfunk. But that's for good reasons, he argued, in reference to the Holocaust. However if the world now really wants a two-state solution, "then we will have to do this not only verbally, but also with an active process," Reinicke said. "I believe Germany's influence [on Israel] is greater than is commonly assumed." Meanwhile the Israeli government disputes that locals in Gaza are going hungry and insists that the siltation is actually better than depicted in the international press. Foreign Minister Saar accused media of showing misleading pictures of hungry children. "This is what a modern blood libel looks like," he wrote on social media platform X, referring to a-now-well-known picture of Osama al-Raqab, an emaciated 5-year-old. Al-Raqab has cystic fibrosis and was evacuated to Italy in June, Saar pointed out. The Israeli government's position on the issue is in opposition to what international aid agencies have observed and eyewitnesses have reported. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Wadephul also said that the thesis often insisted upon by the Israeli government — that Hamas will benefit from any aid shipments they allow in — is no longer justified. It could well be that Hamas previously diverted some of the shipments, he said. "But the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip is now so great that it is not justified to put up further hurdles here," Wadephul insisted. Another contentious point: While the German foreign minister and others argue that the UN and the World Food Program should be taking care of supplies into Gaza, Israel and its main ally, the US, insist the newly created and increasingly controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF should be. On Friday, Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, demonstratively visited a GHF aid distribution site near Rafah, in Gaza. The US ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, claims the GHF has given out 100 million meals in two months. However the UN and other aid organizations say the GHF is not working properly. During past weeks, there have been reports of hundreds of people killed or wounded while trying to get aid from the GHF. On Friday, the German air force began to help, dropping palettes of aid into the Gaza Strip, flying out of Jordan. However even Germany's foreign minister considers this more a symbolic than anything particularly helpful. The crucial thing now is to send hundreds of trucks carrying food into the Gaza Strip daily, Wadephul said while in view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
DW
a day ago
- DW
Palestinian territories: What makes a state, a state? – DW – 08/01/2025
The question of Palestinian statehood continues to draw support, with more and more countries willing to recognize Palestine. But the pathway to statehood is built on conventions and custom — and is rarely allies of Israel are increasingly recognizing — or positioning themselves to acknowledge — the existence of Palestine as a state. The Palestinian territories are the focal point of the current conflict between Israel and Hamas. The moves by nations like France, Canada and potentially the United Kingdolm to recognize a Palestinian state, joining around 150 others, will not necessarily bring an end to the war or secure territorial borders. That, as with many other statehood disputes, is because recognized statehood is not a straightforward process. There are states of all shapes, sizes and structures; 193 are currently full members of the United Nations. But not having full UN membership does not preclude those states from participating in the functions of the organization, joining other international bodies and even having diplomatic missions. Nor is UN membership even required to be a state. One of the simplest guides for statehood is outlined in the Convention on Rights and Duties of States — the Montevideo Convention — signed in 1933. It lists four criteria for statehood: defined territorial boundaries, a permanent population, a government representing those people and the ability to enter into international agreements. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video It is sometimes said that a state exists when it's recognized by enough people outside its own territory. While recognition isn't a literal part of international conventions, Gezim Visoka, a peace and conflict studies scholar and statehood expert at Dublin City University, Ireland, said it effectively exists through other measures. "Recognition is crucial for a state to function, to exist internationally, to enter international agreements, to benefit from international treaties, protection from annexation, occupations and other forms of arbitrary intervention from abroad," said Visoka. "You're in a better place than if you're not recognized." Recognition of statehood or fulfilling the Montevideo criteria does not automatically lead to UN admission. The process of becoming a member requires a candidate state to follow several steps: a letter to the UN secretary-general, a formal declaration accepting the UN Charter's membership obligations and the support of the secretary-general. And then, the candidate state must gain the support of members of the UN Security Council. That includes nine of the 15 council members voting in favor of the candidate, and all five of the permanent members: China, France, Russia, the UK and US. Historically, this has been a difficult barrier for candidate states to pass, even for those that have a high level of recognition. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoPalestine, Kosovo and Western Sahara are among states with extensive recognition but that aren't full UN members. "When Montenegro joined the UN, or Croatia [joined], they had less than 70 recognitions," said Visoka. "Whereas Palestine has almost 150, Kosovo has around 180-190 recognitions, Western Sahara has over 50." However, if this barrier is passed, a candidate need only receive a two-thirds majority vote of all other UN members at the General Assembly. Outside of the 193 member states are two current permanent observers to the United Nations: the Holy See and Palestine. They are able to access the majority of UN meetings and documentation and maintain missions at UN headquarters. Not being a full member of the UN does not prevent non-members from participating in other bodies. Palestine is, for instance, listed as a state entitled to appear before the International Court of Justice. Some long-recognized states have resisted joining the UN. Switzerland, for example, spent 56 years as a permanent observer before finally joining as a full member in 2002. But the benefits of being in the UN are clear. It effectively acts as de facto recognition, providing sovereign integrity in the event of derecognition by one or more states, and a basis for equality irrespective of size and strength. "On the other hand, non-membership is really tricky," said Visoka, "You don't enjoy the same access to agencies and programs, you might be exposed to mistreatment, isolation and unequal trade and economic relations." So too the risk that territory could be lost. Visoka pointed to recent examples of Western Sahara and Nagorno-Karabakh. States can be recognized by others, but still can face challenges. Places like the Palestinian territories and Kosovo are widely recognized as states, but still face challenges. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The fact that they haven't received approval to become full members of the UN "doesn't make [them] less of a state than other states," said Visoka. But state recognition is a flexible and fluid process. "Unfortunately, recognition remains the weakest part of international law, so there is no treaty, there is no regulation on who is a state, who has the right to recognize other states and which entities are candidates for recognition and statehood," said Visoka. "It is very much defined on a case-by-case basis. All the states don't have unified recognition policy, so they improvise, they adjust and change." This can lead to violence and conflicts, as states fight to gain recognition and legitimacy in the eyes of other nations, with recent examples including the conflict-borne emergence of Kosovo and South Sudan.
Int'l Business Times
a day ago
- Int'l Business Times
US Envoy Visits Gaza Sites As UN Says Hundreds Of Aid-seekers Killed
President Donald Trump's special envoy inspected a US-backed food distribution centre in war-torn Gaza on Friday, as the UN rights office reported that Israeli forces had killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians waiting for aid. The visit by Steve Witkoff came as a report from global advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) also accused Israeli forces of presiding over "regular bloodbaths" close to the US-backed aid points. The UN's rights office in the Palestinian territories said at least 1,373 people had been killed seeking aid in Gaza since May 27 -- 105 of them in the last two days of July. "Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military," the UN office said, breaking down the death toll into 859 killed near the US-backed food sites and 514 along routes used by UN and aid agency convoys. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, posted on X that he and Witkoff had visited Gaza "to learn the truth" about the private aid sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is supported by the United States. "We received briefings from IDF (the Israeli military) and spoke to folks on the ground. GHF delivers more than one million meals a day, an incredible feat!" Huckabee said. "Hamas hates GHF because it gets food to people without it being looted by Hamas." The foundation, on its own X account, posted that it had been a "privilege and honor" to host Witkoff and Huckabee as the group delivered its 100-millionth meal in Gaza, fulfilling Trump's "call to lead with strength, compassion and action". Gaza's civil defence agency said 11 people were killed by Israeli fire and air strikes on Friday, including two who were waiting near an aid distribution site run by GHF. GHF largely sidelined the longstanding UN-led humanitarian system just as Israel was beginning to ease a more than two-month aid blockade that exacerbated existing shortages of food and other essentials. In its report on the GHF centres on Friday, Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli military of illegally using starvation as a weapon of war. "Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families," said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. "US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths." Responding to the report, the military said GHF worked independently, but that Israeli soldiers operated "in proximity to the new distribution areas in order to enable the orderly delivery of food". It accused Hamas of trying to prevent food distribution and said that it was conducting a review of the reported deaths, adding it worked to "minimise, as much as possible, any friction between the civilian population" and its forces. After arriving in Israel on Thursday, Witkoff held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how to resolve the almost 22-month-old war, feed desperate civilians and free the remaining hostages held by Palestinian militants. Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and free the captives, but is under international pressure to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians and threatened many more with famine. Following his discussions with Witkoff, Netanyahu met Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul of Germany, another staunch Israeli ally, who nonetheless delivered a blunt message. "The humanitarian disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination," Wadephul told reporters after the meeting, urging the government "to provide humanitarian and medical aid to prevent mass starvation from becoming a reality". "I have the impression that this has been understood today," he added. On Thursday, the armed wing of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad released a video showing German-Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski, 21, watching recent news footage of the crisis in Gaza and pleading with the Israeli government to secure his release. "Even the strongest person has a breaking point," his family said in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel. "Rom is an example of all the hostages. They must all be brought home now." On Friday, Wadephul also met relatives of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. According to the German foreign office, among the 49 hostages still held, a "single-digit" number are German-Israeli dual nationals "Germany continues to do everything in our power to achieve the release of the hostages," Wadephul said, expressing outrage at the video release. This "horrible" footage reveals "once again the utter depravity of the kidnappers", he added. The Hamas-led October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures. Of the 251 people taken hostage, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military. The retaliatory Israeli offensive has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen here as a caricature at a protest in Tel Aviv, is under mounting domestic and international political pressure AFP
