U.S. Special Envoy to Haiti resigns, citing ‘inhumane’ deportation of Haitians

U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti Daniel Foote resigned Thursday, saying that he did not want to be associated with what he called the United States’ “inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees” back to the island nation.

Foote’s resignation letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, which was first obtained by the PBS NewsHour, comes as the Biden administration is facing widespread backlash over its treatment of Haitian migrants in Del Rio, Texas, where images of horseback border patrol agents using reins against migrants have sparked outrage. Activists and some lawmakers have also been calling for the Biden administration to suspend deportations to Haiti. In his letter, Foote criticizes the deportations.

“I will not be associated with the United States inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the danger posed
by armed gangs in control of daily life,” Foote wrote in his resignation letter. “Our policy approach to Haïti remains deeply flawed, and my recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.”