Wisteguens Jean Quely Charles, a Haitian national whose defiant arrest rant went viral, has been deported after 19 months in federal custody.
Charles, whose ICE takedown in Massachusetts last January spawned millions of views, was removed on a flight originating in Louisiana, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Thursday. The agency identified him as a member of the Back Block Money Gang and said he had racked up 17 criminal convictions during his time in the United States.
His record included 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, carrying a dangerous weapon, carrying ammunition without a firearm identification card, and trespassing, according to DHS.
Charles had originally received Temporary Protected Status during the Obama administration in February 2013 and was admitted that July. USCIS terminated his TPS in July 2022, DHS said.
He remained in federal custody for approximately 19 months after his arrest as his immigration case proceeded. A Department of Justice immigration judge issued him a final order of removal on Nov. 7.
Sources said that Charles was extremely combative aboard the deportation aircraft and made crude, profane and threatening remarks about President Donald Trump and his family during the flight. An image shows Charles aboard the plane; the photo was provided by an ICE source and was not among images officially released by DHS.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued a statement tying Charles’ removal to broader immigration enforcement.
“This illegal alien gang member from Haiti had quite the rap sheet,” Mullin said.
He also criticized immigration policies under the Obama and Biden administrations and credited the Trump administration with carrying out the deportation.
“Once again: if you’re here illegally, we will find you, arrest you, and remove you from the United States of America,” Mullin added.
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis provided a separate statement framing Charles’ case politically.
“This gang member and criminal illegal alien loved Obama, Biden, and open-border Democrats who let him enter our country with TPS and allowed him to terrorize American citizens,” Bis said.
“Thanks to the Trump administration, he is now off our streets and back in Haiti,” she continued.
DHS posted a photo of Trump at his viral McDonald’s campaign stop waving goodbye to accompany the deportation announcement.
The arrest that made Charles an overnight viral figure occurred Jan. 22, in Massachusetts, just days after Trump returned to the White House. Fox News cameras captured ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers taking him into custody, where he predicted he would beat removal and voiced political allegiances that quickly circulated online.
“I’m not going back to Haiti … you feel me?” Charles said during the arrest.
“F–k Trump,” he added.
“Biden forever bro.”
Charles was deported to Haiti on Thursday, DHS said.