Haiti: Do Not Travel
- The U.S. State Department reissued a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory for Haiti because of widespread kidnappings and gang violence. (foxnews.com) - Officials warned kidnappings now involve six-figure ransom demands in some cases, heightening the security risk for visitors. (foxnews.com) - Level 4 is the U.S. government's highest travel risk rating, advising Americans not to travel there for any reason. (mensjournal.com)
The U.S. State Department updated its Haiti advisory on April 16 and kept the country at Level 4, its highest warning: do not travel. (travel.state.gov) The advisory says Americans should avoid Haiti because of crime, terrorism, kidnapping, civil unrest, and limited health care. The State Department said there was “no change” in the level itself and that the summary was updated. (travel.state.gov) State Department travel advisories run from Level 1 to Level 4, and Level 4 means the U.S. government is telling citizens not to go. The department says these notices are written for U.S. travelers and describe risks that could affect them abroad. (travel.state.gov) The warning lands as Haiti’s security crisis keeps widening beyond Port-au-Prince. The United Nations human rights office said at least 5,519 people were killed and 2,608 injured in Haiti between March 1, 2025, and January 15, 2026. (ohchr.org) A separate United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime explainer published in January said 16,000 people had been killed in Haiti since January 2022 and 1.5 million displaced. It also said more than half the population did not have enough food to eat. (unodc.org) The U.S. government has been operating with reduced staffing in Haiti for years. The State Department ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and family members to leave on July 23, 2023, and arranged additional departures from the embassy in March 2024 as gang violence surged near the airport and embassy compounds. (travel.state.gov) (usembassy.gov) Getting in and out of the country is also harder than in a normal travel warning. The Federal Aviation Administration says U.S. civil flights are still barred below 10,000 feet in parts of Haiti’s airspace because authorities have not stopped attacks on aircraft around Port-au-Prince. (faa.gov) The State Department’s country page for Haiti continues to post fresh security alerts from the embassy, including alerts dated January 31, February 6, and February 18, 2026. For Americans weighing a trip, the official U.S. position has not changed: don’t go. (travel.state.gov)
