U.S immigration agents have arrested another prominent Haitian businessman, the latest member of Haiti’s private sector to either be detained on U.S. soil or have their entry to the United States denied.

Dimitri Vorbe, a former independent power provider in Haiti who ran afoul of slain President Jovenel Moïse when the leader targeted the businessman’s company as part of a campaign against the country’s so-called oligarchs, was arrested outside his Miami home on Tuesday afternoon. Department of Homeland Security records show him being held at the Krome North Detention Center.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to an inquiry from the Miami Herald asking on what grounds Vorbe, who has an ongoing immigration case and had an upcoming hearing, was detained. Vorbe has been in the U.S. since January 2020 and has Temporary Protected Status. He has a legal case pending before an immigration judge, who has repeatedly rescheduled his hearing without explanation, sources told the Miami Herald.

The arrest of Vorbe, a member of one of Haiti’s politically and economically powerful families, comes two months after that of businessman and one-time Haiti presidential hopeful Pierre Réginald Boulos, who was detained by federal agents in Palm Beach County on an immigration violation and accusations of supporting Haiti’s terrorists gangs. It also comes on the heels of a growing list of visa cancellations of members of Haiti’s economic elite by the Trump administration. In recent weeks, businessmen have either been denied boarding on U.S.-bound flights or entry into the U.S. after arriving at Miami International Airport.

The U.S. doesn’t comment on visa cancellations, but members of Haiti’s private sector are frequently accused of being complicit in the country’s surging gang violence and fueling corruption. Businessmen who have been targeted have said they were not told why they were being denied entry into the U.S., only that their visas had been canceled. In some cases, they were held for as long as 20 hours in a room at MIA, where they were interrogated by customs agents about their business dealings and wealth, and asked about other prominent members of Haiti’s economic elite.

The singling out of Haiti’s elite comes as the State Department tries to address the country’s escalating violence and political paralysis.

Like Boulos, Vorbe has been in the U.S. during Haiti’s most recent crisis. His family owned the country’s biggest supplier of energy before it was seized by the Haitian goverment and has also secured major government projects for road construction, housing and other infrastructure projects. While various members of the family have supported different Haitian leaders, Vorbe’s opposition to the party of former President Michel Martelly put him at odds with several officials in that administration and eventually with Moïse.

This is the second time that Vorbe has been targeted by federal agents.

In August 2020, he was arrested by ICE agents at his Florida residence during “a targeted enforcement operation,” on allegations that he had overstayed his time in the United States.

The arrest was announced on social media days before it actually happened, and days after Moïse had met in the Dominican Republic with Trump’s secretary of state.

During his immigration hearing, Vorbe’s attorney presented paperwork showing that an extension for a stay in the U.S. had been filed. Since then, U.S. authorities have had possession of his Haitian passport while his case has been making its way through immigration court.

At the time of the first ICE arrest, Vorbe, a former confidant of late President René Préval, was in a public fight with Moïse after the president targeted his company Société Générale d’Énergie SA. The Haitian president publicly railed against the company and blamed it for Haiti’s energy woes.

At one point, the Haitian government sent police to the homes of Vorbe and other company officials, while seeking their arrest and that of other former government officials who worked on the company’s 2005 contract with the government.

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—Miami Herald staff writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report.

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