SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal immigration choose in Miami ordered on Thursday that rich Haitian businessman and one-time presidential hopeful Pierre Réginald Boulos stay in custody in america, the place he’s held over accusations of supporting violent gangs in Haiti.
Boulos was arrested at his dwelling in South Florida earlier in July, accused of being “engaged in a marketing campaign of violence and gang assist that contributed to Haiti’s destabilization,” the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stated.
A well known member of Haiti’s elite, he’s essentially the most high-profile Haitian arrested so far beneath the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Thursday’s listening to on the Krome North Service Processing Middle was held behind closed doorways, with authorities barring journalists and others from the courtroom and the detention heart itself.
It wasn’t instantly identified what occurred on the listening to aside from the choose denying Boulos be launched, an individual acquainted with the case instructed The Related Press. The particular person spoke on situation of anonymity to debate the listening to.
Greater than a dozen individuals gathered outdoors the detention heart on Thursday, demanding that Boulos stay within the U.S. — or anyplace else however Haiti. The demonstrators waved at vehicles that handed by and honked in assist.
“If Boulos goes to Haiti, he is not going to keep in jail. The justice in Haiti are gangs,” learn one signal.
Some stated Boulos ought to be despatched to El Salvador, and even Guantánamo. One other signal learn: Ship Boulos beneath the ocean.
U.S. authorities haven’t supplied any particulars on Boulos’s case, and no paperwork have been made public. Days after his arrest, ICE additionally stated Boulos did not disclose in his residency utility his involvement within the creation of a political celebration or that Haiti’s authorities had referred him for prosecution for misusing loans.
It added that the State Division “has decided that sure people with U.S. lawful everlasting resident standing have supported and collaborated with Haitian gang leaders connected to Viv Ansanm, a Haitian international terrorist group.”
“The US is not going to enable people to get pleasure from the advantages of authorized standing in our nation whereas they’re facilitating the actions of violent organizations or supporting legal terrorist organizations overseas,” the assertion stated.
Boulos ran grocery shops, automotive dealerships and different companies whereas in Haiti, the place he served as president of the Nationwide Chamber of Commerce and Business.
Boulos, who was born within the U.S., has beforehand denied a flurry of corruption allegations in Haiti.
In 2019, he created the Third Means Motion, a political celebration that he stated on the time served as a distinction to the “shameless elite and the unscrupulous politicians who’re working to bathroom down the nation and improve the struggling of the individuals” of Haiti.
Boulos renounced his U.S. citizenship amid expectations of a presidential run, which by no means materialized. He obtained U.S residency final yr, beneath the Biden administration.
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