WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The Trump administration has told Congress that it intends to designate Haitian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, people familiar with the notification told The Associated Press.
The State Department similarly labeled in February as it on cartels operating in the U.S. and anyone assisting them. The new move indicates that the administration plans to put similar pressure on gangs from Haiti. The designation carries with it sanctions and penalties for anyone providing 鈥渕aterial support鈥 for the group.
It comes after a series of steps against the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which was designated a foreign terror organization and then dubbed an invading force under an to justify the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to a notorious under President Donald Trump鈥檚 sweeping immigration crackdown.
That is significant because it gives the president wide powers to imprison and deport noncitizens who otherwise would have the right to ask for asylum in the U.S. or have their cases heard in immigration courts.
Trump, at a rally in Michigan on Tuesday, touted his designation of the six Latin American crime groups as foreign terrorist organizations, including MS-13 and Tren de Aragua.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been designated the highest level of terrorist, and that lets us do a lot of things that you wouldn鈥檛 be able to do,鈥 Trump said.
Notifying Congress about plan for Haitian gangs
According to the notification sent to congressional committees on April 23, the Trump administration said it intends to designate the Haitian gangs Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif as foreign terrorist organizations, according to two people familiar with the message, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not yet been made public.
A third person confirmed that the foreign relations committees in the House and Senate received the notification. The State Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The designation follows a Trump administration move in February to .
Tens of thousands of Haitians came to the United States under a including Haiti to stay for two years provided they had a financial sponsor and bought their own plane ticket. The Trump administration terminated that program and is seeking to revoke the status of those admitted under the Biden administration.
The foreign terrorist organization label has typically been reserved for groups like al-Qaida or the Islamic State group, but applying it to Haitian gangs means that the Trump White House is expanding the longstanding U.S. definition of foreign terrorism.
The gangs are behind attacks in Haiti
Viv Ansanm, which means 鈥淟iving Together,鈥 is a powerful gang coalition that formed in September 2023 and is best known for launching a series of attacks starting in February 2024 across Port-au-Prince and beyond that shuttered Haiti鈥檚 main international airport for nearly three months, freed hundreds of inmates from the country鈥檚 two biggest prisons and eventually forced former Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign.
The coalition united more than a dozen gangs, including two of Haiti鈥檚 biggest ones: G-9 and G-P猫p, which were fierce rivals.
Gangs control at least 85% of Haiti鈥檚 capital, with Viv Ansanm attacking once peaceful communities in recent weeks in a bid to control even more territory.
Gran Grif, also known as the Savien gang, forms part of the Viv Ansanm coalition and is led by Luckson Elan, best known as 鈥淕eneral Luckson.鈥 It is the biggest gang operating in Haiti鈥檚 central Artibonite region with some 100 members.
It was blamed for an attack in the town of Pont-Sond茅 in October 2024 in which more than 70 people were killed in one of the biggest massacres in Haiti鈥檚 recent history.
Gran Grif also was blamed for a recent attack in the Petite Riviere community in which several people were killed, including an 11-year-old child.
Gran Grif was formed after Prophane Victor, an ex-member of Haiti鈥檚 Parliament who represented the Petite Riviere community in Artibonite, began arming young men in the region, according to a U.N. report. Victor was arrested in January.
Canada sanctioned him in June 2023, as did the U.S. in September 2024, accusing him of supporting gangs 鈥渢hat have committed serious human rights abuse.鈥
Gangs’ impact on Haiti
More than 5,600 people were killed across Haiti last year, with gang violence leaving more than 1 million homeless in the country of nearly 12 million people, according to the U.N.
While much of the violence has occurred in Port-au-Prince, gangs recently struck the city of Mirebalais in Haiti鈥檚 central region and freed more than 500 inmates from a local prison. They also attacked the nearby town of Saut d鈥橢au, considered sacred by the thousands of Haitians who travel there yearly for a Vodou-Catholic pilgrimage.
Gangs also have seized more control in Port-au-Prince, killing more than 260 people in Kenscoff and Carrefour earlier this year. The U.N. political mission in Haiti noted that it took the country鈥檚 military, police and a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police roughly five hours to respond to those attacks.
Hunger also has surged to record levels as a result of the persistent gang violence, with more than half of Haiti鈥檚 population expected to experience severe hunger through June, and 8,400 people living in makeshift shelters projected to starve.
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Amiri reported from the United Nations. AP writers Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.
