Daniel Foote, the U.S. Special Envoy to Haiti, has resigned after only months on the job, and reportedly issued a scorching resignation letter on the way out the door.
The letter, addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and reported on by The Associated Press, accuses the administration of pursuing an “inhumane, counterproductive” deportation policy for Haitian migrants.
“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 to daily life,” wrote Foote in the resignation letter. “Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed, and my policy recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.”
Haitian migrants have been front and center in recent days, an effect of the Biden administration’s crisis on the Southern border, particularly at Del Rio, Texas, where thousands of illegal immigrants have been gathering in an attempt to stay in the United States. Some estimates placed the number of immigrants at that particular spot at roughly 14,000 people.
Although the Biden administration has said it will expel Haitian migrants camped out in Del Rio — and has expelled some migrants back to Haiti — one U.S. official recently told The Associated Press that Haitian migrants were getting freed into the U.S. on a “very, very large scale.”
From The Associated Press:
The releases come despite a massive effort to expel Haitians on flights under pandemic-related authority that denies migrants a chance to seek asylum. A third U.S. official not authorized to discuss operations said there were seven daily flights to Haiti planned starting Wednesday.
Ten flights arrived in Haiti from Sunday to Tuesday in planes designed for 135 passengers, according to Haitian officials, who didn’t provide a complete count but said six of those flights carried 713 migrants combined.
According to The Washington Post, which obtained Foote’s resignation letter, Foote also found problematic the administration’s policy of backing Ariel Henry after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July.
“The hubris that makes us believe we should pick the winner — again — is impressive,” he wrote.
After the assassination, a Haitian prosecutor started pursuing charges against Henry in connection with the president’s death, allegedly because Henry made a phone call to a suspect in the assassination hours before the president was killed, reports France24.
Henry then fired the prosecutor. He has vowed to find those “truly” responsible for the assassination.
“Those who are truly guilty, the masterminds of the odious assassination of president Jovenel Moise and those who ordered it, will be found, brought to justice and punished for their actions,” Henry said.
