Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun deportation flights to remove Haitian nationals after the Trump administration ended temporary protected status (TPS) for the country.

Roughly 350,000 Haitians had held TPS status in the U.S. before President Donald Trump rescinded it. Haiti first received TPS in 2010, in the wake of a major earthquake.

The first deportation flight left the U.S. on Thursday, with 160 people aboard, the Associated Press reported.

Haitian TPS Holders were the subject of controversy during the 2024 presidential election. Then-candidate Trump pointed to unsubstantiated reports that Haitian nationals had been eating local wildlife and pets in Springfield, Ohio, leading to a plethora of AI-generated memes showing Trump saving local pets.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.