A Haitian pastor who went from being stopped for a broken taillight to being placed on a deportation flight to Haiti, only to be pulled off the plane at the last minute, has had his bid to remain in the United States denied, his former employer said Monday.

The Department of Homeland Security has denied Molis Augustave’s pending application for lawful permanent residency in the U.S., said We Are CASA, a national immigrant rights group where he previously worked.

Augustave had a pending immigration application to adjust his status when police in York, Pennsylvania, stopped him on Sept. 4 while he was making food deliveries for DoorDash. The next day, he was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, We Are CASA said.

Days after his arrest, his wife, Omara Boniface Nunez, a U.S. citizen, received word from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that a petition she had filed on behalf of a relative had been approved. Augustave had separately applied to adjust his status to become a permanent resident.

But on Sept. 17, he was awakened early and told to prepare to leave. He was already aboard an ICE charter flight when, he said, “at the last minute, they pulled me off. They were going to unjustly deport me to Haiti,” Augustave said in a statement provided by We Are CASA.

Facing deportation

Augustave worked as an organizer for the group before his Temporary Protected Status expired in July, along with protections for more than 300,000 other Haitians in the United States. The termination has left many Haitians vulnerable to deportation.

Among them is Sirena Prosper, a longtime Pompano Beach community member and business owner who is the mother of seven children who are U.S. citizens, three of them minors. Prosper, who was born in The Bahamas but has lived in the U.S. since she was six months old, is in ICE custody and faces deportation to Haiti, say faith organizers who announced a 6:30 p.m. Tuesday candlelight vigil at Royal Hands Salon, 230 S. Cypress Rd., Suite 1, in Pompano, to demand her release and an end to family separation.

Similar calls are also being made on behalf of Augustave, who remains in ICE custody even though he was not ultimately among the 89 people deported to the Caribbean country last week. He said he was being held with more than 100 other detainees.

“I have met men who are scared, men who cry, and men who have no idea what is going to happen to them,” Augustave said. “One man told me he wanted to die. I sat with him and talked to him about God. Then I saw him smile again.

“My life is not worth more because I am a pastor. My family does not matter more than others because people heard our story,” he added. “I am asking people to also see the others who were on that plane and the people still behind these walls.”

Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment about Augustave’s case. A motion to reopen his removal proceedings remains pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals. A habeas corpus petition challenging his detention also remains pending before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Though he remains in ICE custody, advocates say they are concerned the government will again attempt to deport him to Haiti as early as this week.

“We called on the government to give Pastor Molis the fair and thorough review that is required under the law. They did the opposite,” said Ama Frimpong, chief of services and legal advocacy at We Are CASA. “We secured time, but time on its own is not justice. USCIS, which has simply become a force multiplier for ICE, rushed this application and denied it prematurely. We must hold USCIS accountable to its duties. We demand that USCIS reconsider and reverse this unjust decision.”

The group said it’s calling for Augustave’s release and reunification with his wife and two children while his immigration proceedings continue, and for his various requests for immigration relief to be fairly adjudicated on the merits.

Augustave came to the U.S. in 2016 and his request for political asylum was denied two years later. After an appeal was also denied, and he was issued a final order of removal, he received protection under TPS, the humanitarian program that allows nationals of countries facing armed conflict, natural disasters or extraordinary conditions to temporarily live and work legally in the United States.

The Trump administration moved last year to terminate Haiti’s TPS designation, a decision that was challenged in federal court. The administration subsequently asked the Supreme Court to allow the termination to take effect while litigation continues.

In June, the court granted the request, which has meant that those once protected returned to the status they had before — which the administration has been using to detain people and deny their requests for adjustment of status.

Human Rights Watch issues plea

Since last month, Homeland Security has increased deportation flights to Haiti from monthly to weekly, and returned more than 450 individuals to Cap-Haïtien, on the country’s northern coast.

The city has become the principal arrival point of entry for flights because armed gangs have made the airport in Port-au-Prince unsafe. As Haitians flee the violence, the northern city has seen its population triple, Human Rights Watch said Monday, sounding the alarm over the pressure U.S. deportations are placing on Haiti.

The organization warned that Haitians returning from the U.S., face threats to their lives and receive little to no support. It called on the U.S. Senate to urgently pass House-approved legislation that would reinstate TPS for Haitians.

Many of those deported had lived in the U.S. for years and were separated from family members who are U.S. citizens, Human Rights Watch said. Others had pending asylum claims. Haitian government officials told the organization that they lack funding, staff and the policy framework to safely receive and assist deportees.

“The United States is returning people, some with pending asylum claims, to a country that doesn’t have the capacity to protect them from violence, let alone help them find food and shelter,” Nathalye Cotrino, senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch, said. “The U.S. government should immediately halt these removals.”

Human Rights Watch said its researchers visited Cap-Haïtien from Aug. 24-30, and interviewed 44 Haitian deportees who had arrived on the first two deportation flights following the end of TPS. They also spoke to Haitian government officials and international officials involved in receiving them.

Researchers were also at the airport on Aug, 27 where they documented the arrival of a deportation flight and saw the reception firsthand.

Most people interviewed said they originally fled Haiti because of the country’s longstanding security and humanitarian crises, which have only worsened over the years. Some left after the 2010 earthquake, but the vast majority left after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and the deepening violence and instability that followed.

Most said that ICE had detained them before TPS formally ended and never explained the basis for their detention. Most said that while protected by TPS they had also filed asylum claims. Some said their claims were still pending at the time of their removal, and that they were unable to contact their lawyers or appear before an immigration judge before being deported.

Beyond limited assistance in urgent cases, Haitian authorities and humanitarian agencies do not offer sustained shelter, health care, transportation, protection or reintegration support. After being registered upon arrival, many deportees were left to fend for themselves, and did not know what to do or where to go next.

Some returned to their hometowns, but because of the security situation, many instead tried to reach relatives or friends elsewhere in the country, traveling the same day or remaining in Cap-Haïtien for days while waiting for money transfers to make the trip.

Many had lived in the U.S. for years, residing in Florida, New York, Indiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Interviewees had worked in construction, health care, manufacturing, hospitality, logistics, retail or agriculture.

Rushed decision

Augustave and his wife have been married since March 2023. They have a 2-year-old son, Isaac. Augustave is also a stepfather to Nunez’s 9-year-old daughter, Sofia.

Since Augustave’s detention, faith leaders have prayed and organized, alongside Haitian leaders and community organizations.

“People across the country called, shared his story, prayed, organized, and demanded that his case receive attention,” We Are CASA said.

The organization criticized DHS’s decision denying his green card application.

“Now DHS has shut the door on the process that should have decided his future,” the group said. “Rather than examine the complete record, evaluate his eligibility under the law, and reach a reasoned decision on the merits, the agency rushed to deny his application in an attempt to put him on the next deportation flight to Haiti.”

On Monday, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani raised the issue of TPS with President Donald Trump, who is in the city for this year’s United Nations General Assembly, which he is scheduled to address on Tuesday.

Trump has revoked TPS for about a dozen countries including Haiti. New York state is home to an estimated 40,000 Haitians who had TPS.

Mamdani said he shared his “very strong opinions” with the president about how important “Haitian New Yorkers are not only to the fabric of our city but also to our city’s economy, to so many of the industries that build our city, and the stability that is in the president’s hands. And I appreciate the conversation that we had.”

Trump acknowledged the conversation, saying Mamdani “feels very strongly about it, and he did bring it up.”

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