Lawyers Push To Bring Man Home Who They Say Was Wrongly Deported To Haiti

Two years ago, Paul Pierrilus was deported to Haiti from his home in the U.S. Pierrilus was expelled because of a two-decades-old drug conviction as part of a sweep to remove Black immigrants by the Biden administration. Today, Pierrilus is lingering in a country that he is unfamiliar with.

According to The Associated Press, Pierrilus’ lawyers are fighting to return him home. However, Pierrilus’ case remains lingering as the Biden administration pushes forward deportations to Haiti.

“You have to be mentally strong to deal with this type of stuff,” Pierrilus said. “A country where people get kidnapped every day. A country where people are killed. You have to be strong,” Pierrilus said to AP News.

According to AP News, Pierrilus’ parents are Haitian. Upon arriving in the U.S. from St. Martin, where Pierrilus was born, his parents didn’t apply for citizenship. Pierrilus has lived in New York City since he was five years old and doesn’t speak Haitian Creole.

When he was deported, after delaying deportation for 13 years, Pierrilus worked as a financial consultant. However, it’s been difficult for Pierrilus to find employment in Haiti. So, he stays inside the house and reads self-help, business, and marketing books. He says he often hears gunshots outside of his home, AP News reports.

AP News also reports that Pierrilus’s case is what many Haitian migrants face. More than 20,000 Haitians have been deported from the U.S. in the past year as thousands more continue to flee Haiti in risky boat crossings that sometimes end in mass drownings, according to AP.

In a statement to AP News, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said, “each country has an obligation under international law to accept the return of its nationals who are not eligible to remain in the U.S. or any other country. “

In 2005, the Board of Immigration Appeals denied an appeal by Pierrilus’ and his attorneys said, “it is not necessary for the respondent to be a citizen of Haiti for that country to be named as the country of removal,” AP News reports.

A Change.org petition has been created for Pierrilus.