By Simon CrerarShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberThe U.S. State Department has imposed visa restrictions on a Haitian government official for allegedly supporting gangs and other criminal organizations while obstructing the Caribbean nation's government in its fight against "terrorist gangs."
The State Department did not identify the individual, but said any visas held by the person will be revoked.
Why It Matters
The poorest country in the Americas, Haiti has long been plagued by political instability and violence, with heavily armed criminal gangs controlling large parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, committing murders, rapes and kidnappings.
U.S. visa actions are one of Washington’s few immediate tools that can be used to pressure Haitian elites accused of enabling gang activity, targeting individuals who provide financial or material support to gangs and criminal organizations.
According to a State Department statement, revoking visas “bars entrance to those whose entry [to the U.S.] or proposed activities have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
...What To Know
The decision comes as Haiti’s transitional government struggles to regain control from powerful gangs labeled “terrorist groups” by Haitian authorities.
The State Department emphasized that the United States is committed to restoring Haiti’s stability and expects measurable progress toward free and fair elections.
“The Haitian people have had enough with gang violence, destruction, and political infighting. The Trump administration will promote accountability for those who continue to destabilize Haiti and our region,” the statement said.
In early 2024, gangs drove the then-prime minister, Ariel Henry, to resign. Up to 85 percent of the capital is controlled by gangs.
The country, which has not held elections since 2016, has since been governed by a transitional presidential council currently led by Laurent Saint-Cyr, the local head of the American Chamber of Commerce.
Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has been a key proponent of transforming the previous security mission in Haiti into a new, larger, and more proactive Gang Suppression Force (GSF). He views this as a critical step toward addressing the crisis caused by the violence, arguing the new force will have a strengthened mandate to go after gangs directly.
The GSF will boost the current Multinational Security Support mission that is led by Kenya.
“This was a mission that, through Kenya’s selfless sacrifice, has managed to prevent the complete collapse of the Haitian state in the face of this onslaught of terrorist gang violence,” Waltz told the United Nations on September 30, 2025.
“However, it was a mission that unfortunately lacked the resources to fully turn the tide against the gangs.”
“With this vote for a mission five times the size of its predecessor and with a strengthened mandate to go after the gangs, the international community is sharing the burden, and living up to its promise to help Haiti turn the tide.”
...What People Are Saying
Laurent Saint-Cyr head of the Haitian transitional presidential council: “Every day, innocent lives are snuffed out by bullets, fire and fear. Entire neighborhoods are disappearing, forcing more than a million people into internal exile and reducing to nothing memories, investments and infrastructure. This is the face of Haiti today, a country at war, a contemporary Guernica, a human tragedy on America’s doorstep,” referring to a town heavily bombed during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.
Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations: “The United States is proud to have co-penned this resolution with Panama, endorsed by all 32 members of the OAS [Organization of American States], to stand in solidarity with members of our hemisphere in answering this urgent appeal from Haiti to address a humanitarian and security crisis of global impact.”
What Happens Next
Haiti’s transitional council is under international pressure to improve security conditions before elections can be scheduled.
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