Report to Congress on Options to Counter Destabilization in Haiti, March 2026 edition

Report to Congress on Options to Counter Destabilization in Haiti Sec. 7019(e) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024 (Div. F, P.L. 118-47) as carried forward by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (Div. A, P.L. 119-4) and House Report 118-146 Overview The following report outlines the Administration’s efforts to counter destabilization in Haiti, including through the establishment of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), The U.S. objective for Haiti remains the establishment of baseline security and stability to prevent the establishment of a narco-state and illegal mass migration to the United States. A succession of unelected caretaker Haitian governments has failed to prevent the hostile takeover of nearly every aspect of the Haitian state by gangs, including U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). As a result, impunity enables a significant increase in illicit activities across the country and fuels illegal immigration to the United States. The United States’ primary objective is stabilizing security in Haiti to address these core U.S. national interests. UNCLASSIFIED Page 2 of 5 Promoting Security and Stability in Haiti The flawed and ineffective Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, which was authorized by UNSC Resolution 2699 in October 2023, first deployed in July 2024 and was fully funded and equipped on a voluntary basis, predominantly funded by the United States. Established under the Biden administration, the MSS cost U.S. taxpayers nearly $1 billion per year but supported only 1,000 security forces, predominantly police, that had no clear mandate to neutralize the gangs or act unilaterally. The Gang Suppression Force (GSF) was intentionally designed to fix each of these flaws while substantially decreasing the financial burden on the United States. Funded almost exclusively by UN-assessed contributions and contributions by other nations, the GSF is expected to cost the United States a small fraction of what the MSS mission once did. In exchange, however, the United States will get much more: a 5,500-strong force composed largely of specialized military units with a clear mandate to go after and neutralize the gangs. By executing on that mission, the GSF will advance the U.S. national interest in preventing both mass illegal migration movements and the creation of a new narco-terrorist state right off America’s shores. UN Security Council Resolution 2793 (adopted September 30, 2025) authorized the transition of the MSS mission to the GSF and established a Standing Group of Partners (SGP) to provide strategic direction, oversight, and relevant political decision-making for the mission. Logistics support and sustainment for the GSF provided by the UNSOH will be funded by assessed contributions from UN Member States. Personnel salaries and pre-deployment training costs for those UNCLASSIFIED Page 3 of 5 deployed under the GSF will continue to be funded on a voluntary basis, including through the UN Trust Fund for Haiti. As the chair of the SGP, the United States led the development of a Concept of Operations for the GSF, secured approximately $100 million in voluntary contributions to the UN Trust Fund to support GSF personnel costs, played a key role in the recruitment of a special representative who will provide strategic and political guidance to the mission, and convened, alongside the Government of Canada, a pledging conference which resulted in pledges of more than 11,000 forces from 14 countries, more than double the required pledges. The Department of State provides support to the HNP to maintain security and counter criminal activity. Since 2021, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) has allocated more than $257 million to support the HNP and currently has four ongoing lines of effort: Anti-gang Operations; Intelligence-led Policing; Recruitment and Training; and Countering Transnational Organized Crime: • Anti-Gang Operations: INL provides equipment, logistics, vetting, training, and mentorship to the HNP's counter-gang units. • Intelligence-Led Policing: INL helped the HNP establish a Command, Control, Communication, and Intelligence Center and a Centralized Drone Unit. INL supports the HNP’s ability to collect, analyze, and disseminate critical information on gang and TCO activities, patterns, movements, and strategies. • Recruitment and Training: The Department of State provides equipment, training, refurbishment support, and mentoring to the HNP School and HNP recruits. As of October 2025, the Department of State is supporting a rapid UNCLASSIFIED Page 4 of 5 surge recruitment program to recruit and train 4,000 new HNP officers by 2027. On January 23, 2026, the HNP graduated 877 new cadets through INL support, representing a 40 percent increase in HNP force size. • Countering Transnational Organized Crime: INL provides equipment and training to HNP specialized units on border security, counter-narcotics, maritime patrolling, and counter-firearms trafficking. The Department of State supports a Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit in partnership with Homeland Security Investigations. Through these program components, INL supports 11 embedded subject matter experts to specialized HNP units and the HNP school. It has also provided unarmored and armored vehicles, surveillance drones, protective gear and tactical equipment, such as weapons and ammunition, for the HNP, which help defray the HNP’s equipment costs to focus on salaries and other resources to grow the force. Combatting Weapons Flow Arming Gangs Illicit firearms trafficking from the United States and the Caribbean to Haiti continues to exacerbate the security crisis. INL encourages improved coordination among the Government of the Dominican Republic’s various agencies to target and intercept suspicious shipments and funded a CBP Police Liaison Officer to assist the Dominican Republic’s (DR) customs officials screen for contraband. On February 25, 2025, DR authorities, partnering with Embassy Santo Domingo, intercepted a shipment of firearms and ammunition bound for Haiti. It was the second-largest arms seizure in the DR’s history and the largest with a confirmed destination of Haiti. The U.S. Government is also working to UNCLASSIFIED Page 5 of 5 expand HNP capacity to seize and trace firearms, including through the establishment of a Transnational Criminal Investigation Unit. Accountability Measures for Malign Actors in Haiti On May 2, 2025, the Department of State increased pressure on the gangs and their enablers by designating Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif as FTOs and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The United States continues to use sanctions and visa restrictions to promote accountability for malign behavior in Haiti. Since October 2022, we have taken steps to impose visa restrictions or sanction over 60 individuals involved in the operation of Haiti-based gangs, human rights abuses, corruption, and the global illicit drug trade. Further, we have led efforts to designate Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif as well as seven other gang leaders and their enablers at the UN Security Council’s Haiti sanctions regime since its inception. On July 21 and September 25, 2025, the Department of State determined that certain individuals, some with U.S. lawful permanent resident status, have supported and collaborated with Haitian gang leaders connected to Viv Ansanm. With this determination, the Department of Homeland Security is pursuing the removal of these individuals under section 237(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. UNCLASSIFIED