With Rare, On-the-Ground Reporting, FRONTLINE Investigates the ‘Haiti Deportation Crisis’

Haiti Deportation Crisis

Watch the documentary starting Oct. 20, 2026, at 10/9c on PBS stations (check local listings) and on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel, or stream it starting at 7/6c at pbs.org/frontline and in thePBS App. Haiti Deportation Crisis will also be available on PBS Documentaries on Prime Video. 

Earlier this year, as part of its immigration crackdown, the Trump administration ended an immigration program that provided temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians who had fled violence and upheaval for the U.S.  

The administration said Haiti was now safe enough for them to return home. But what is the reality on the ground?

A new FRONTLINE documentary goes inside Haiti in search of answers.

Haiti Deportation Crisis premieres Tues., Oct. 20, on PBS and online. From award-winning filmmakers Adam Desiderio and Sebastian Walker (Strike on Iran), the documentary is a rare, up-close look at the extent and impact of gang violence in Haiti, the efforts to combat it, and the rising fears among Haitians in the U.S. of being sent back.

 Walker and Desiderio were the first foreign journalists to film with the Gang Suppression Force, a newly-established international military mission backed by the U.N. and 18 countries including the U.S. They were also the first foreign journalists on the scene after gangs carried out a major attack that made headlines around the world. In vivid detail, their reporting shows how armed gangs now control large parts of Haiti, how massacres and mass kidnappings are devastating families, and how the Gang Suppression Force’s efforts to stem the violence are playing out so far.

Unfolding against the backdrop of the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), what emerges is a visceral documentation of life inside a country many Haitians in the U.S. say is as dangerous as ever  — and where they fear they’ll be kidnapped, ransomed, or killed if they’re deported.

In addition to reporting on the realities on the ground in Haiti, the documentary also examines how the end of TPS is impacting communities in the U.S. with large Haitian populations. Chief among them: Springfield, Ohio, where around 15,000 Haitian immigrants have arrived since 2020, and residents are sharply divided about whether they should be able to stay.

As Haiti Deportation Crisis explores, the U.S. government first granted TPS to Haitians in 2010 after a devastating earthquake destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure. Since then, successive U.S. administrations have renewed it, as Haiti faced widespread hunger, the assassination of its president, and escalating gang violence. The Trump administration has said the protections have gone on too long and are no longer justified.

As the administration’s immigration crackdown continues, Haiti Deportation Crisis is a powerful and revealing look at the current security situation in Haiti and how the TPS termination is playing out both there and in the U.S.

For the full story, watch Haiti Deportation Crisis starting Oct. 20, 2026, at 10/9c on PBS stations (check local listings) and on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel, and at 7/6c at pbs.org/frontline and in the PBS App. Haiti Deportation Crisis will also be available on PBS Documentaries on Prime Video. Subscribe to FRONTLINE’s newsletter to get updates on events, podcasts and additional reporting related to Haiti Deportation Crisis.

Credits Haiti Deportation Crisis is a FRONTLINE production with Mongoose Pictures. It is written, produced and directed by Adam Desiderio and Sebastian Walker. The correspondent is Sebastian Walker. The senior producer is Dan Edge. The managing editor of FRONTLINE is Andrew Metz. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.

About FRONTLINE FRONTLINE, U.S. television’s longest running investigative documentary series, explores the issues of our times through powerful storytelling. FRONTLINE has won an Academy Award® as well as every major journalism and broadcasting award, including 113 Emmy Awards and 35 Peabody Awards. Visit pbs.org/frontline and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to learn more. FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with major support from Ford Foundation, and Fialkow Family Foundation. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Park Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and Corey David Sauer, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. Corporate support for FRONTLINE is provided by The Economist. 

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