U.S. envoy resigns over deportations, calls Biden policy flawed

WASHINGTON — A senior State Department official overseeing the Biden administration’s Haiti policy has resigned, citing what he calls the United States’ “inhumane, counterproductive” response to the recent Haitian migrant surge along the Southern border. 

The diplomat, Daniel Foote, was appointed U.S. Special Envoy to Haiti in late July by President Joe Biden, following the assassination of Haiti’s sitting president, Jovenel Moïse. 

“Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed, and my recommendations have been ignored and dismissed,” Foote wrote in a scathing resignation letter on Wednesday that was obtained by NBC News. 

The State Department denies that Foote’s proposals were ignored. Instead, department spokesman Ned Price said some of them were “rejected” because they were deemed “harmful” to promoting democracy in Haiti.

Foote wrote that his decision to resign now was in response to the decision by U.S. immigration authorities to deport thousands of Haitian migrants back to Haiti.

“The people of Haiti, mired in poverty, hostage to the terror, kidnappings, robberies and massacres of armed gangs and suffering under a corrupt government with gang alliances, simply cannot support the forced infusion of thousands of returned migrants lacking food, shelter, and money without additional, avoidable human tragedy,” Foote wrote.

However, Price accused Foote of having “failed to take advantage of ample opportunity to raise concerns about migration during his tenure and chose to resign instead.”

Since mid-September, more than 10,000 Haitian migrants have attempted to cross the Rio Grande river and enter the U.S. from Mexico near the tiny Texas town of Del Rio. The result has been a dual humanitarian and border crisis, with thousands of migrants amassing under a bridge with no food, water or shelter. 

In response, U.S. border patrol agents have detained thousands of people. While families with children have largely been permitted to apply for asylum, more than 500 people have been flown back to Haiti since Sunday, when deportation flights began, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The surge was triggered by several convergent factors, including the collapse of Haiti’s government in July, an earthquake in August that killed more than 2,000 people and a mistaken belief that the Biden administration would grant asylum and protected status to newly arrived Haitian migrants. 

“The collapsed state is unable to provide security or basic services, and more refugees will fuel further desperation…