Locked up by ICE, Haitian businessman, ex-presidential aspirant to remain in detention

Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald on Jul 31, 2025

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MIAMI — A prominent Haitian businessman and onetime presidential aspirant accused of collaborating with armed gangs in Haiti will have to remain in U.S. immigration lockup for now.

Pierre Reginald Boulos, who appeared in immigration court on Thursday, will have to return to court next month after a judge at the Krome North Service Processing Center decided he could not be released.

“The immigration judge found that Dr. Boulos was subject to mandatory detention at this point in the proceeding, pursuant to a rarely cited regulation,” said his lawyer, Atara Eig, who is representing him alongside other attorneys at the law firm of Candela, Eig & Jurgens. “We have reserved appeal on this issue and will be filing a notice of appeal in the next 30 days.”

Eig said the upcoming hearing, slated for Aug. 26, is to address procedural issues. Boulos, a lawful permanent resident who was born in New York but renounced his U.S. citizenship several years ago, was arrested on July 17 in Palm Beach County on an immigration violation charge and is being held at the Krome detention center.

Lawyers said that while no issues of substance were addressed Thursday, they plan to appeal an earlier decision to deny him bond. A physician by training who considered a run for the Haitian presidency, Boulos appeared in the courtroom shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday dressed in orange.

As his hearing started, he was joined by his children and other members of his family, some of whom were in the courtroom and others online. After Eig raised safety concerns, Judge Jorge Pereira closed the hearing to people following online.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is accusing Boulos of violating the Immigration and Nationality Act after failing to disclose his involvement in the formation of a political party in Haiti, Mouvement pour la Transformation et la Valorisation d’Haiti, when he applied for permanent residency in the U.S. In social media posts and a release after his arrest, they agency also accused him of “contributing to the destabilization of Haiti” by engaging in violence and collaborating with armed gangs.

In a statement to the Miami Herald, family members said they and Boulos are committed to dealing with the allegations through the appropriate channels and look forward to presenting a full account of the facts.

“Our father is a devoted dad and grandfather who continuously shows up for those he loves. We stand firmly by his side and trust that the truth will prevail,” the family said.

Boulos returned to the U.S. in 2021, the statement said, “after decades of service in Haiti as a public health physician, humanitarian and entrepreneur,” overseeing vaccination and maternal-care initiatives in partnership with well-known international organizations and later founded various businesses that collectively created more than 3,000 jobs.

Among those businesses is a car dealership that the family previously said was burned down by the very armed gangs, the Viv Ansanm coalition, U.S. officials are accusing Boulos of collaborating with. In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated the gang coalition as a foreign and global terrorist organization.

“Beyond the personal impact, this case raises broader concerns about humanitarian risk,” the family’s statement added. “Deportation to Haiti under current conditions presents serious and well-documented personal safety threats.”

Boulos is the most high-profile Haitian to be detained by the Trump administration, which in recent months has tried to cut back deportation protections and work permits for over a half million Haitians temporarily in the United States. At the same time, the State Department is trying to show that it is serious about punishing those believed to be financing gangs in Haiti that have forced more than 1.3 million Haitians from their homes, killed thousands and left nearly 6 million Haitians struggling to find food.

As Boulos’ hearing unfolded inside Krome, about 15 protesters gathered in front of the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. courthouse at 400 N. Miami Avenue in downtown Miami. Believing his hearing was being held at the federal courthouse, the protesters were hoping to get a glimpse of the businessman as they held placards demanding Boulos be kept in prison here and not deported back to Haiti, where they said he would be freed.

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