Haitian influencer arrested in Miami, deported as US hits record removals

Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald on Nov 13, 2026

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MIAMI — A Haitian social media influencer arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in South Florida while on her way to see a doctor was among more than 60 people deported to Haiti on Thursday as the Trump administration announced deportations had hit a record high.

Djouly Jean, also known as Djouly Best on social media, stepped off the latest ICE-chartered flight in Cap-Haïtien with her face covered. She was among 57 men and eight women aboard the flight that departed from Alexandria, Louisiana.

Upon arrival, the returning deportees each received necessities, including underwear, T-shirts, food and water, as well as psychosocial support and $189 each from Haiti’s Office of National Migration to help them return home. Additionally, 60 of the returnees were provided with hotel accommodations, said Jean Négot Bonheur Delva, the director general of the Office of National Migration.

The latest deportation flight to Haiti came as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced his department had deported a record 483,200 people during the 2026 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.

“The total number of ICE arrests,” Mullin said, “was more than all three full fiscal years under Biden combined, as the patriots of ICE work around the clock to make America safe again. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, ICE has been unleashed to target and remove illegal aliens so that we can save American lives.”

More than 3 million migrants have left the United States under Trump, Mullin said, as he continued to cast the administration’s immigration crackdown as a public safety mission, and described those arrested and deported as the “worst of the worst.”

Among those caught in the administration’s intensified enforcement efforts, especially after the end of legal protections for Haitians in the United States in late July, is Jean, whose detention initially drew accusations that she had faked her arrest and gone as far as purchasing a fake ankle bracelet from Amazon to place on her leg and create a “buzz.”

Jean, 33, was arrested on Nov. 2, released and then taken back into custody less than 24 hours later. She reportedly spent eight days in U.S. immigration detention, where the singer and digital content creator says she was denied access to her medication despite having undergone fibroid surgery about two weeks before her deportation.

With her nails manicured and hair styled, she was reluctant to speak to journalists after arriving at the Northern Departmental Judicial Police Service for identity verification. Jean said she believed that interviews and public statements she made following her initial arrest had contributed to her deportation. After initially being detained by immigration authorities, Jean appeared in videos and did a livestream where she showed her ankle monitor.

She claims that more than 200 people soon contacted ICE to question why she had been released while other immigrants had remained in detention for extended periods.

It was those reactions, Jean believes, that led ICE to arrest her a second time, after which she was deported to Haiti. An ICE spokesperson did not respond to a Miami Herald request for comment.

While Jean is the latest social media influencer deported to their homeland, her case has reverberated across the Haitian community, where many artists and others with unclear immigration status continue to maintain a prominent social media status.

Since the end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, U.S. immigration authorities have stepped up enforcements, with hundreds of Haitians deported to Haiti after flights began arriving on a weekly basis. While Haitian authorities have tried to create a welcoming atmosphere by providing music, basic essentials and cash to help deportees adjust to their new reality, the often chaotic and poorly organized flights have sometime left Haiti’s Office of National Migration scrambling after flights either arrive late or with more people aboard than initially detailed on the flight manifests.

Born on the island of La Gonâve, Jean said she has no intention of remaining in Haiti and hopes to return to the neighboring Dominican Republic, where she previously lived. That country has also intensified deportations of Haitians.