After a year-and-a-half in federal custody, the Haitian man who yelled “I’m not going back to Haiti” on camera has now been deported to Haiti, according to federal officials.
Story Highlights
- Homeland Security confirmed Wisteguens Jean Quely Charles was deported to Haiti on a flight from Louisiana.
- His 2025 arrest went viral after he said, “I’m not going back to Haiti” and “Biden forever bro” on camera.
- Temporary Protected Status for Haiti ended in summer 2026 after court rulings, clearing the way for removals.
- The Department of Homeland Security highlighted recent Haiti flights as focused on serious offenders.
What Happened and Why It Matters
Homeland Security officials said Wisteguens Jean Quely Charles was deported to Haiti on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flight that left from Louisiana. The removal followed his January 22, 2025 arrest in Massachusetts, which drew wide attention after video captured him saying he would not go back to Haiti. The case shows how a viral moment can become part of a larger immigration push once legal barriers fall and policy shifts take hold.
Charles received Temporary Protected Status in 2013 during the Obama administration, according to reporting that cited Department of Homeland Security. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services later ended his Temporary Protected Status in July 2022. That history placed him inside the group now subject to deportation after courts allowed the administration to end Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status protections in 2026, removing a major shield against removal for many Haitians.
The Legal Shift That Opened the Door
In early August 2026, a federal judge confirmed that temporary deportation protections for Haitians were no longer in place. That ruling followed a Supreme Court path that cleared the administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Haiti. With those legal steps complete, immigration authorities had the green light to restart charter flights and process removals for people who no longer had protection under the program.
By late August, the Department of Homeland Security publicly described deportation flights to Haiti and said they included people accused or convicted of serious crimes. The department framed these flights as targeting “dangerous criminals,” including gang members and violent offenders. That message fits a broader enforcement push that aims to show the government is removing people it considers threats. The department did not, however, publish case-by-case records in that announcement.
From Viral Arrest to Removal Flight
Fox News highlighted Charles’s case as a symbol of stricter enforcement under current policy and said he spent 19 months in federal custody before boarding a flight to Haiti. The timeline aligns with the court decisions that removed legal shields and the government’s August restart of removals to Haiti at scale. Those flights resumed with more than 160 people sent on the first trip after protections ended, signaling a shift from legal debate to active execution.
EXCLUSIVE: Remember the Haitian illegal alien gang member who vent viral to our cameras for yelling "F**k Trump, Biden forever!" & "I'm not going back to Haiti!" during his ICE arrest in Boston last year?
Well, he has, in fact, gone back to Haiti.
DHS confirms to @FoxNews that… pic.twitter.com/ThG3Ky3iQn
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 15, 2026
For many Americans, this story will feel like a snapshot of a bigger problem. People on the right see a system that long failed to enforce the law. People on the left see families torn apart and returns to a country in crisis. Both sides see a federal process that took years, mixed legal signals, and then moved fast once courts ruled. That back-and-forth fuels anger at leaders who seem more focused on headlines than on steady, clear policy.
Sources:
twitchy.com, wfmd.com, cnn.com, washingtonpost.com, dhs.gov
