A Haitian gang member who was arrested in Massachusetts nearly two years ago and captured on camera telling ICE officers he would never be sent back to Haiti has now been deported after 19 months in federal custody.
Wisteguens Jean Quely Charles was deported on an ICE flight that originated in Louisiana, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Fox News. Sources told Fox News that Charles was combative aboard the flight and made crude, profane and threatening remarks about President Donald Trump and his family during the trip.
Charles was arrested in Massachusetts on Jan. 22, 2025, just days after Trump returned to the White House. Fox News witnessed the arrest, during which Charles insisted he would not be returned to Haiti.
“I’m not going back to Haiti … you feel me?” Charles said at the time. “F— Trump. Biden forever bro.”
DHS identifies Charles as a member of the Back Block Money Gang and says he had accumulated 17 criminal convictions, including assault and battery on a public employee, resisting arrest, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, possession with intent to distribute a Class D controlled substance, possession of controlled substances, carrying a dangerous weapon, carrying ammunition without a firearm identification card, and trespassing.
Charles remained in federal custody for roughly 19 months while his immigration case moved through the courts. A Department of Justice immigration judge issued him a final order of removal on Nov. 7, 2025, according to DHS.
DHS said Charles had originally been granted Temporary Protected Status during the Obama administration in February 2013 and was admitted to the U.S. that July. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services terminated his TPS in July 2022.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin pointed to Charles’ record in announcing the deportation.
“This illegal alien gang member from Haiti had quite the rap sheet,” Mullin said, citing Charles’ convictions for assault and battery on a public employee, resisting arrest and drug trafficking. “Once again: if you’re here illegally, we will find you, arrest you, and remove you from the United States of America.”
The White House also issued a statement on the case. Spokeswoman Lauren Bis said Charles was a “gang member and criminal illegal alien” who had been able to enter the country under Temporary Protected Status. “Thanks to the Trump administration, he is now off our streets and back in Haiti,” she said.
Charles was deported to Haiti on Thursday, DHS said, nearly two years after he told ICE officers on camera that it would never happen.
