Maybe just maybe
Wtf going on in Haiti - drone strike kills 8 children
- Thread starter Mask
- Start date
U.S. Government’s travel bans mean many Haitian fans will not be able to go to World Cup
Adam Crafton
Nov. 19, 2025
www.nytimes.com
Haiti qualified this week to compete in the men’s World Cup for the first time since 1974 but travel bans imposed by the U.S. government mean many fans will not be able to travel from the Caribbean country to attend their nation’s games in the United States next summer.
In June, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a travel ban against 12 countries, a step he described as being essential to “protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people.” The banned list included forbidding the entry into the U.S. of nationals of Haiti as both immigrants and non-immigrants...
Adam Crafton
Nov. 19, 2025
U.S. Government’s travel bans mean many Haitian fans will not be able to go to World Cup
The banned list signed by President Trump in June, included forbidding the entry into the U.S. of nationals of Haiti.
www.nytimes.com
Haiti qualified this week to compete in the men’s World Cup for the first time since 1974 but travel bans imposed by the U.S. government mean many fans will not be able to travel from the Caribbean country to attend their nation’s games in the United States next summer.
In June, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a travel ban against 12 countries, a step he described as being essential to “protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people.” The banned list included forbidding the entry into the U.S. of nationals of Haiti as both immigrants and non-immigrants...
Haiti qualified for the World Cup. But the Trump administration says its fans aren’t welcome.
The Caribbean nation joins Iran as World Cup competitors covered by travel ban.
Haiti, which this week qualified to compete in the men’s World Cup for the first time since 1974, is covered by a travel ban President Donald Trump signed in June. The presidential proclamation restricts people from 19 countries from entering the United States, while including exemptions for players and their families, coaches and support personnel to participate in major sporting events. But the State Department confirmed to POLITICO on Friday that this exception will not apply to Haitian fans or spectators hoping to attend.
The Trump administration’s insistence on maintaining a blanket ban due to travelers’ country of origin is likely to raise hackles from within the international soccer community, which has historically celebrated the World Cup as a gathering place for fans from around the world. World Cup hosts have typically streamlined visa requirements to facilitate travel for visiting fans following their home teams.
Concerns about the effects of Trump’s immigration and border policies have hung over preparations for the tournament, which begins next June. Gianni Infantino, the president of tournament organizer FIFA, has previously said “fans from all over the world will be welcome.”
The Trump administration’s list targets nations the administration says are national security risks, have high visa overstay rates and where it’s infeasible to vet visitors and visa applicants. Haiti is facing a severe political crisis, marked by widespread gang violence and worsening humanitarian conditions — with the team playing home games outside of the country.
The State Department said fans may still submit visa applications and schedule interviews to attend the games, but that they “may be ineligible for visa issuance or admission to the United States.” The travel ban also included an exception for applicants whose travel would “advance U.S. national interest,” though a State Department spokesperson said such exceptions will likely be “very rare.”
Fans are likely to begin attempting to make travel plans after the tournament’s schedule, with specific match days and locations, is set by a draw that will take place on Dec. 5 in Washington.
The Haitian Embassy did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment, and tournament organizer FIFA declined to comment.
crazy shitU.S. Government’s travel bans mean many Haitian fans will not be able to go to World Cup
Adam Crafton
Nov. 19, 2025
U.S. Government’s travel bans mean many Haitian fans will not be able to go to World Cup
The banned list signed by President Trump in June, included forbidding the entry into the U.S. of nationals of Haiti.
Haiti qualified this week to compete in the men’s World Cup for the first time since 1974 but travel bans imposed by the U.S. government mean many fans will not be able to travel from the Caribbean country to attend their nation’s games in the United States next summer.
In June, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a travel ban against 12 countries, a step he described as being essential to “protect the national security and national interest of the United States and its people.” The banned list included forbidding the entry into the U.S. of nationals of Haiti as both immigrants and non-immigrants...
Texas men indicted for planning to invade Haiti, take women and children as sex slaves
1 day agoMichael Garcia
PLANO, Texas (KETK) – Two North Texas men have been indicted for planning to invade Gonave Island off the coast of Haiti, to make the island’s women and children into sex slaves.
Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21 of Allen, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20 of Argyle, were indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas this week on charges of conspiracy to murder, maim or kidnap in a foreign country and production of child pornography.
U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs’ office alleged that between August 2024 and July 2025, the two men planned to recruit a mercenary force of homeless people from Washington, D.C., to unlawfully invade Gonave, an island that’s part of the Republic of Haiti.
Weisenburg and Thomas allegedly planned to invade the island to carry out “rape fantasies,” according to Combs’ office. Their plan included buying a sailboat, firearms and ammunition before sailing to the island, murdering all the men there in a coup d’état and turning all the island’s women and children into sex slaves.
Combs’ office alleged the two men took concrete steps toward these plans by learning to speak the Haitian Creole language, recruiting others to join their plan and Thomas even enlisted in the U.S. Air Force to learn military skills for their invasion.
Weisenburg and Thomas could face life in prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and another 15 to 30 years if convicted on child pornography charges. The case against them is currently under investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
Since the Haitian Revolution ended in 1804, the island nation has been a repeated target of foreign interventions, including from the United States, which occupied the island for 19 years starting in 1915.
the nerve of these folksTexas men indicted for planning to invade Haiti, take women and children as sex slaves
1 day ago
Michael Garcia
PLANO, Texas (KETK) – Two North Texas men have been indicted for planning to invade Gonave Island off the coast of Haiti, to make the island’s women and children into sex slaves.
Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21 of Allen, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20 of Argyle, were indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas this week on charges of conspiracy to murder, maim or kidnap in a foreign country and production of child pornography.
Gavin Weisenburg (left), courtesy of Collin County Jail records, and Tanner Thomas (right), courtesy of Comal County Jail records.
U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs’ office alleged that between August 2024 and July 2025, the two men planned to recruit a mercenary force of homeless people from Washington, D.C., to unlawfully invade Gonave, an island that’s part of the Republic of Haiti.
Weisenburg and Thomas allegedly planned to invade the island to carry out “rape fantasies,” according to Combs’ office. Their plan included buying a sailboat, firearms and ammunition before sailing to the island, murdering all the men there in a coup d’état and turning all the island’s women and children into sex slaves.
Combs’ office alleged the two men took concrete steps toward these plans by learning to speak the Haitian Creole language, recruiting others to join their plan and Thomas even enlisted in the U.S. Air Force to learn military skills for their invasion.
Image courtesy of the Haitian National Trust
Weisenburg and Thomas could face life in prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and another 15 to 30 years if convicted on child pornography charges. The case against them is currently under investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
Since the Haitian Revolution ended in 1804, the island nation has been a repeated target of foreign interventions, including from the United States, which occupied the island for 19 years starting in 1915.
The evil, contempt and delusion is off the charts
Yea bruh, folks seem obsessed with Haiti
Legal status of 350,000 Haitian migrants to expire in early February, U.S. officials announce
By Camilo Montoya-Galvez
November 26, 2025
www.cbsnews.com
The Trump administration announced Wednesday a renewed effort to terminate the Temporary Protected Status of more than 350,000 Haitian immigrants, saying they will be eligible for deportation in early February unless they have other legal means to remain in the U.S.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made the decision after the Trump administration's initial attempts to end the TPS protections of hundreds of thousands of Haitians earlier this year were stalled in federal court...
By Camilo Montoya-Galvez
November 26, 2025
Legal status of 350,000 Haitian migrants to expire in early February, U.S. officials announce
The expiration of TPS policy for Haitian immigrants would make them eligible for deportation, unless they have other legal means to stay in the U.S.
www.cbsnews.com
The Trump administration announced Wednesday a renewed effort to terminate the Temporary Protected Status of more than 350,000 Haitian immigrants, saying they will be eligible for deportation in early February unless they have other legal means to remain in the U.S.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made the decision after the Trump administration's initial attempts to end the TPS protections of hundreds of thousands of Haitians earlier this year were stalled in federal court...
US' Rubio pleads for nations to aid Haiti stabilization effort
WASHINGTON
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pleaded Thursday for individual nations in Latin America and beyond to assist ongoing efforts to stabilize the impoverished Caribbean island nation of Haiti.
Rubio made the appeal as he hosted Kenyan President William Ruto at the State Department for a signing ceremony, hailing Nairobi's "extraordinary role, really heroic role, in trying to help stabilize Haiti" as Washington seeks to move to a new phase in Haiti that the top diplomat said will focus on the standing up of a "gang suppression force."
"We understand and believe they cannot do it by themselves. So I wanted to use this as an opportunity to continue to encourage countries in the region and around the world to step up and contribute and be a part of this effort. We need their money. We need their funds, and we need their personnel as well to make this work," he said.
"If we had five or 10 countries willing to step forward and do just half of what Kenya has done already, it would be an extraordinary achievement, and we hope that that will happen. It needs to happen if we're serious about it. It needs to happen," he added.
Kenya has taken the lead role in efforts to stabilize Haiti, which has been beset by civil strife, gang violence, and biting poverty for years.
The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti said last month that there were 1,247 murders and 710 people injured in attacks in Haiti from July through September.
While 30% of the murders were attributed to gang-related violence, the report indicated that the majority of deaths -- 61% -- resulted from operations by Haitian security forces. The deaths occurred during ground operations, drone strikes, and through the excessive use of force, including summary executions.
An additional 9% of the killings were linked to self-defense groups and lynch mobs.
The report highlighted the trafficking and exploitation of children by gangs as one of Haiti’s gravest human rights concerns.
According to official data, at least 302 children were recruited by gangs in 2024, though the UN notes that the real number is likely much higher.
Haiti gang king ‘Yonyon’ gets life in U.S. prison for kidnapping missionaries
Shirsho DasguptaUpdated December 5, 2025 7:38 AM[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65)]
Germine Joly, better known as "Yonyon," was transferred aboard a special Federal Bureau of Investigation flight on Tuesday, May 3 to the U.S. following a request from the U.S. on April 22. Joly is the leader of the gang 400 Mawozo, which was behind the 2021 kidnapping of 17 missionaries with Ohio-based Christian Aid Missionaries. Miami
Washington
Germine Joly, the self-described “king” of Haiti’s notoriously violent 400 Mawozo gang, was sentenced on Wednesday to life in federal prison without parole for orchestrating the kidnapping of 17 missionaries — 16 of whom were U.S. citizens, including an eight-month-old baby.
The life sentence, handed down in a District of Colombia federal court, comes seven months after a jury convicted the gang leader known as “Yonyon” of helping to direct the abduction of the missionaries from Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries. Most of the hostages, including a Canadian national, were held at gunpoint for 62 days. They won their freedom after a $350,000 ransom was paid, and it was made to look as if they had escaped, sources with knowledge of the matter previously shared with the Miami Herald.
In addition to life in prison, Judge John D. Bates ordered Joly, 34, to pay a fine of $1,700. The life sentence, Bates said, was “stiff but warranted.”
In court documents ahead of the sentencing, Joly insisted he was not the leader of a gang now being directed by his cousin and one-time No. 2, Joseph Wilson, better known as Lanmò Sanjou — which in English translates to “Death doesn’t know which day it’s coming.” The gang controls large sections of eastern Port-au-Prince, including neighborhoods near the U.S. embassy all the way to the border with the Dominican Republic, and is part of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition.
Bates said there was “frankly overwhelming” evidence that Joly was directing the activities of 400 Mawozo, and the totality of evidence shows his role in the kidnappings. He rejected a request by the gang leader for a 25-year sentence but granted his desire to be imprisoned in Florida. His mother lives in the South Florida area.
Joly, who is from Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, and was wearing an orange jumpsuit, did not address the court. It was revealed Wednesday that he recently attacked two inmates with a shiv while in jail awaiting sentencing.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the sentencing makes clear that Joly’s “scheme to win freedom for himself by using Christians as pawns backfired.”
Kidnapping thrust Haiti into global spotlight
The bold kidnapping catapulted both 400 Mawozo and Haiti’s spiraling lawlessness into the global spotlight, highlighting the growing power of kidnapping-gangs in a country besieged by criminal violence.At the time of the abductions, Joly was an inmate in Haiti’s National Penitentiary. That didn’t stop him from running the gang’s operations, using unmonitored cell phones to direct gunmen in not only kidnappings but also a gun-smuggling operation that funneled weapons from the United States to Haiti, with the help of associates in Florida.
During the trial, witnesses also testified that he controlled 400 Mawozo’s finances, directing payments to gang members, including payment of their salaries derived from hostage ransoms.
In January 2024, near the end of a bench trial, Joly pleaded guilty to charges in a different case related to a gun-trafficking conspiracy that violated U.S. export laws, as well as laundering ransom payments of U.S. citizen hostages. He was sentenced in June to 35 years in federal prison for those offenses.
The FBI Miami Field Office investigated the case with assistance from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Both of Joly’s cases received extraordinary assistance from other U.S. law enforcement agencies. The kidnapping case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen P. Seifert and Thomas N. Saunders.
The U.S. Probation Office had recommended a life sentence for the hostage-taking conviction, followed by 60 months of supervised release and a special assessment of $1,700. They also recommended that both sentences be served concurrently.
The government supported the recommendation. The “significant sentence” reflected the seriousness of Joly’s conduct, prosecutors said.
“This horrific crime was driven by defendant [Joly’s] own self-interest; he wanted to secure his release from prison in exchange for the hostages,” they said in court documents. “The requested sentence is sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to serve the interests of justice.”
Joly, however, argued through his lawyer that the court should impose a sentence of roughly 25 years and 8 months in prison, along with 60 months supervised release — concurrent to the sentence imposed in the firearms’ conspiracy case. He also asked to serve his sentence in the South Florida region.
“Any prison sentence longer than 308 months imprisonment will have no greater effect toward the goals of sentencing than a life sentence,” defense attorney Allen Orenberg said in court documents. He argued that any sentence longer than 25 years would be “discorporate” and unreasonable when considering the sentences his co-defendants received in the gun-smuggling case.
Joly’s defense team, reiterating his denial of being the leader of 400 Mawozo, argued that he should not be penalized twice, and he should be afforded a reduced sentence. In their arguments, they provided a glimpse of his life, arguing that he was raised by an aunt and uncle after his parents left for the U.S. They said “not having his parents with him surely impacted him.”
Joly “genuinely tried to help his countrymen, especially those that did not have much,” his lawyer said in court documents. “The Haitian government did not provide services and resources to the poor like we have in this country, and [Joly] tried to fill the gap.”
Targeting of U.S. citizens
The Mennonite missionaries were returning from visiting an orphanage east of Port-au-Prince at around 1 p.m. on Oct. 16, 2021 when they were forced from their vehicles at gun point. They were kept in various locations by armed gang members while their relatives negotiated ransom payments for their release. Among the hostages were five children, including the baby.Shortly after, 400 Mawozo claimed responsibility for the kidnapping on social media and demanded a ransom of $17 million—$1 million per victim. On or about Nov. 11, 2021, the gang contacted a representative of the hostages and said, in lieu of ransom money, 400 Mawozo wanted defendant Joly freed from his Haitian incarceration.
One of the gang’s victims, Cheryl Noecker, addressed the court. “I forgive you,” she said to Joly and broke down in tears. “My heart goes out to your mother because I know she loves her son.”
Several other victims and their loved ones were also in attendance. Some of the victims attended via video conference.
The judge commended the victims for their courage, dignity and compassion.
Kenyan police arrive in Haiti in first deployment since UN expands mandate
By Harold Isaac and Sarah Morland
December 8, 2025
A new contingent of 230 Kenyan police arrived in Haiti on Monday, Haiti's national police said, marking the first foreign deployment since the U.N. Security Council approved expanding an existing gang-fighting force in the Caribbean island.
This marks the first deployment since the last time the force was bolstered in February this year, force spokesperson Jack Ombaka told Reuters, adding it now numbered 980 personnel…
Kenyan police officers share a moment after landing to reinforce a security mission to tackle violence in Haiti, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti February 6, 2025.
By Harold Isaac and Sarah Morland
December 8, 2025
A new contingent of 230 Kenyan police arrived in Haiti on Monday, Haiti's national police said, marking the first foreign deployment since the U.N. Security Council approved expanding an existing gang-fighting force in the Caribbean island.
This marks the first deployment since the last time the force was bolstered in February this year, force spokesperson Jack Ombaka told Reuters, adding it now numbered 980 personnel…
Kenyan police officers share a moment after landing to reinforce a security mission to tackle violence in Haiti, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti February 6, 2025.
That’s them boys!! Always believe baby! No matter what!? 1974 & 2026!!
Similar threads
