Trump administration tells Congress it plans to label Haitian gangs as foreign terror organizations

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has told Congress that it intends to designate Haitian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, people familiar with the notification told The Associated Press.

The State Department similarly labeled eight Latin American crime organizations in February as it ratcheted up pressure on cartels operating in the U.S. and anyone assisting them. The new move indicates that the administration plans to put similar pressure on gangs from Haiti. The designation carries with it sanctions and penalties for anyone providing “material support” for the group.

It comes after a series of steps against the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which was designated a foreign terror organization and then dubbed an invading force under an 18th-century wartime law to justify the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to a notorious El Salvador prison under President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

That invocation of the Alien Enemies Act is significant because it gives the president wide powers to imprison and deport noncitizens who otherwise would have the right to ask for asylum in the U.S. or have their cases heard in immigration courts.

Trump, at a rally in Michigan on Tuesday, touted his designation of the six Latin American crime groups as foreign terrorist organizations, including MS-13 and Tren de Aragua.

“They’ve been designated the highest level of terrorist, and that lets us do a lot of things that you wouldn’t be able to do,” Trump said.

According to the notification sent to congressional committees on April 23, the Trump administration said it intends to designate the Haitian gangs Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif as foreign terrorist organizations, according to two people familiar with the message, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not yet been made public.

A third person confirmed that the foreign relations committees in the House and Senate received the notification. The State Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The designation follows a Trump administration move in February to nix protections that shielded half a million Haitians from deportation.

Tens of thousands of Haitians came to the United States under a Biden-era program permitting people from four countries including Haiti to stay for two years provided they had a financial sponsor and bought their own plane ticket. The Trump administration terminated that program and is seeking to revoke the status of those admitted under the Biden administration.

The foreign terrorist organization label has typically been reserved for groups like al-Qaida or the Islamic State group, but applying it to Haitian gangs means that the Trump White House is expanding the longstanding U.S. definition of foreign terrorism.

Viv Ansanm, which means “Living Together,” is a powerful gang coalition that formed in September 2023 and is best known for launching a series of attacks starting in February 2024 across Port-au-Prince and beyond that shuttered Haiti’s main international airport for nearly three months, freed hundreds of inmates from the country’s two biggest prisons and eventually forced former Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign.

The coalition united more than a dozen gangs, including two of Haiti’s biggest ones: G-9 and G-Pèp, which were fierce rivals.

Gangs control at least 85% of Haiti’s capital, with Viv Ansanm attacking once peaceful communities in recent weeks in a bid to control even more territory.

Gran Grif, also known as the Savien gang, forms part of the Viv Ansanm coalition and is led by Luckson Elan, best known as “General Luckson.” It is the biggest gang operating in Haiti’s central Artibonite region with some 100 members.

It was blamed for an attack in the town of Pont-Sondé in October 2024 in which more than 70 people were killed in one of the biggest massacres in Haiti’s recent history.

Gran Grif also was blamed for a recent attack in the Petite Riviere community in which several people were killed, including an 11-year-old child.

Gran Grif was formed after Prophane Victor, an ex-member of Haiti’s Parliament who represented the Petite Riviere community in Artibonite, began arming young men in the region, according to a U.N. report. Victor was arrested in January.

Canada sanctioned him in June 2023, as did the U.S. in September 2024, accusing him of supporting gangs “that have committed serious human rights abuse.”

More than 5,600 people were killed across Haiti last year, with gang violence leaving more than 1 million homeless in the country of nearly 12 million people, according to the U.N.

While much of the violence has occurred in Port-au-Prince, gangs recently struck the city of Mirebalais in Haiti’s central region and freed more than 500 inmates from a local prison. They also attacked the nearby town of Saut d’Eau, considered sacred by the thousands of Haitians who travel there yearly for a Vodou-Catholic pilgrimage.

Gangs also have seized more control in Port-au-Prince, killing more than 260 people in Kenscoff and Carrefour earlier this year. The U.N. political mission in Haiti noted that it took the country’s military, police and a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police roughly five hours to respond to those attacks.

Hunger also has surged to record levels as a result of the persistent gang violence, with more than half of Haiti’s population expected to experience severe hunger through June, and 8,400 people living in makeshift shelters projected to starve.

Amiri reported from the United Nations. AP writers Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump arrives to speak on his first 100 days at Macomb County Community College Sports Expo Center, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks on his first 100 days at Macomb County Community College Sports Expo Center, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump arrives to speak on his first 100 days at Macomb County Community College Sports Expo Center, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he leaves the White House en route to attend a rally in Macomb County, Mich., to mark the 100th day of his second term in office, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranians could call abroad on mobile phones Tuesday for the first time since communications were halted during a crackdown on nationwide protests in which activists said at least 646 people have been killed.

Several people in Tehran were able to call The Associated Press and speak to a journalist there. The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back. The witnesses said SMS text messaging still was down and that internet users in Iran could connect to government-approved websites locally but nothing abroad.

The witnesses gave a brief glimpse into life on the streets of the Iranian capital over the four and a half days of being cut off from the world. They described seeing a heavy security presence in central Tehran.

Anti-riot police officers, wearing helmets and body armor, carried batons, shields, shotguns and tear gas launchers. They stood watch at major intersections. Nearby, the witnesses saw members of the Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force, who similarly carried firearms and batons. Security officials in plainclothes were visible in public spaces as well.

Several banks and government offices were burned during the unrest, they said. ATMs had been smashed and banks struggled to complete transactions without the internet, the witnesses added.

However, shops were open, though there was little foot traffic in the capital. Tehran's Grand Bazaar, where the demonstrations began Dec. 28, was to open Tuesday. However, a witness described speaking to multiple shopkeepers who said the security forces ordered them to reopen no matter what. Iranian state media had not acknowledged that order.

The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Many remain concerned about a possible military strike by the U.S., even as President Donald Trump has said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington.

“My customers talk about Trump’s reaction while wondering if he plans a military strike against the Islamic Republic,” said shopkeeper Mahmoud, who gave just his first name out of concerns for his safety. “I don’t expect Trump or any other foreign country cares about the interests of Iranians.”

Reza, a taxi driver who also gave just his first name, said protests also remain front of mind for many.

“People — particularly young ones — are hopeless but they talk about continuing the protests," he said.

Meanwhile, it appeared that security service personnel were searching for Starlink terminals as people in northern Tehran reported authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes. While satellite television dishes are illegal, many in the capital have them in their homes and officials broadly had given up on enforcing the law in recent years.

On the streets, people also could be seen challenging plainclothes security officials, who were stopping passersby at random.

State television also read a statement about mortuary and morgue services being free — a signal some likely charged high fees for the release of bodies amid the crackdown.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to the Qatar-funded satellite news network Al Jazeera in an interview aired Monday night, said he continued to communicate with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

The communication “continued before and after the protests and are still ongoing," Araghchi said. However, “Washington’s proposed ideas and threats against our country are incompatible.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran’s public rhetoric diverges from the private messaging the administration has received from Tehran in recent days.

“I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” Leavitt said. “However, with that said, the president has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary, and nobody knows that better than Iran.”

Meanwhile, pro-government demonstrators flooded the streets Monday in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, which appeared to number in the tens of thousands, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Others cried out, “Death to the enemies of God!” Iran’s attorney general has warned that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge.

Trump announced Monday that countries doing business with Iran will face 25% tariffs from the United States. Trump announced the tariffs in a social media posting, saying they would be “effective immediately.”

It was action against Iran for the protest crackdown from Trump, who believes exacting tariffs can be a useful tool in prodding friends and foes on the global stage to bend to his will.

Brazil, China, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are among economies that do business with Tehran.

Trump said Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

Iran, through the country’s parliamentary speaker, warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,700 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the latest death toll early Tuesday. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 512 of the dead were protesters and 134 were security force members.

With the internet down in Iran, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government hasn’t offered overall casualty figures.

This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)

A picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is set alight by protesters outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)

FILE - Protesters march on a bridge in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 29, 2025. (Fars News Agency via AP, File)