Haiti’s second-largest city, Cap-Haïtien, holds the country’s only other international airport.
U.S. immigration agents arrested another prominent Haitian businessman, marking the latest move against members of Haiti’s private sector who face detention in the U.S. or visa denials.
Dimitri Vorbe, a former independent power supplier in Haiti, was taken into custody outside his Miami home Tuesday afternoon. He clashed with slain President Jovenel Moïse, who targeted his company during a campaign against Haiti’s so-called oligarchs. Department of Homeland Security records confirm Vorbe is being held at the Krome North Detention Center.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to explain why Vorbe, who holds Temporary Protected Status and has a pending immigration case, was detained. He has lived in the U.S. since January 2020, and his hearing has been rescheduled multiple times without explanation, according to sources.
The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince posted a photo of Vorbe on X with the word DETAINED stamped across it. The State Department said his activities could cause “serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the U.S., accusing him of supporting gangs and fueling Haiti’s instability. However, officials provided no evidence to support the claim.
Vorbe’s arrest follows the July detention of businessman and former presidential hopeful Pierre Réginald Boulos in Palm Beach County. Authorities accused Boulos of immigration violations and ties to Haiti’s gangs. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been canceling visas of Haiti’s business elite. Several businessmen have been denied entry to the U.S., often questioned for hours about their wealth and connections to other elites.
The crackdown reflects Washington’s push to address Haiti’s spiraling violence and political paralysis. Vorbe’s family once owned Haiti’s largest energy supplier, seized by the government, and benefited from contracts for housing, roads, and other major projects. But his opposition to former President Michel Martelly’s party and later Moïse left him in political conflict.
This marks the second time federal agents have targeted Vorbe. In August 2020, ICE arrested him at his Florida home during a “targeted enforcement operation” over alleged overstays. That arrest was announced on social media days before it occurred, shortly after Moïse met with then–Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the Dominican Republic. Vorbe’s attorney later presented documents showing an extension request had been filed, but U.S. officials still kept his Haitian passport.
Back then, Vorbe, once close to late President René Préval, was already at odds with Moïse. The Haitian president blamed Vorbe’s company, Société Générale d’Énergie SA, for the country’s energy shortages. The government even sent police to Vorbe’s home and pursued his arrest along with other officials tied to a 2005 energy contract.
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