The U.S. special envoy to Haiti resigned in protest in a letter that blasted the Biden administration for deporting hundreds of migrants back to the crisis-engulfed Caribbean nation from a camp on the U.S.-Mexican border in recent days.
Daniel Foote, a career diplomat named to his post in July, said the “collapsed state” was unable to support the infusion of returning migrants.
“I will not be associated with the United States’ inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants,” Foote said in a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken that circulated publicly on Thursday.
Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, has been hit in recent weeks by a presidential assassination, gang violence and a major earthquake.
The United States has returned more than 1,400 migrants from the camp in Del Rio, Texas to Haiti, including families, and moved over 3,200 people for processing away from the encampment, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said on Thursday. At its peak on Sept. 18 there were some 15,000 people at the camp, around two-thirds of those families, the officials said.
Many of the migrants say they hope to stay in the United States and seek asylum. But an expulsion policy in place since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic means most may not get that opportunity.
Some are being loaded onto flights back to Haiti while others are being released into the United States to pursue their immigration cases in court.
At least four deportation flights to Haiti were scheduled for Thursday, according to a flight tracking website and activists who track deportation flights.
Foote submitted his resignation to Blinken on Wednesday, a State Department spokesperson said, adding that Washington was committed to the long-term well being of Haiti, as well as offering immediate help to returning migrants.
State Department spokesman Ned Price rejected Foote’s criticism, saying that “instead of participating in a solutions-oriented policy process, Special Envoy Foote has both resigned and mischaracterized the circumstances of his resignation.”
“He failed to take advantage of ample opportunity to raise concerns about migration during his tenure and chose to resign instead,” said Price.
Foote’s decision was interpreted and welcomed by rights groups as a stern criticism of the administration’s immigration strategy.
“A big bold move. And a big deal,” said William O’Neill, a lawyer specializing in humanitarian, human rights and refugee law. “He will be missed.”
Biden’s handling of the situation at the border, where record numbers have been detained this year, has led to growing disillusionment from migration advocates who hoped for an end to deterrent measures brought in by his predecessor Donald Trump.
