US envoy quits over Haiti deportations

WASHINGTON. – US special envoy for Haiti Daniel Foote resigned yesterday, just two months after his appointment, with a scathing letter denouncing the Biden administration’s deportations of Haitian migrants who fled recent political turmoil and natural disasters at home.

In a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foote tendered his resignation “with deep disappointment and apologies to those seeking crucial changes”.

In the letter, which was posted on Twitter by a US journalist, Foote noted, “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.”

The resignation came after President Joe Biden’s administration last weekend began deporting migrants who crossed into the country from Mexico onto aircraft bound for Haiti.

Foote, a career diplomat named in July as special envoy to Haiti, said the country was unable to support the infusion of returning migrants.

Foote’s resignation follows growing pressure on the Biden administration from the United Nations and fellow Democrats over the treatment of Haitians in a migrant camp in Texas near the Mexican border.

As many as 14,000 people gathered in the camp last week, with the population now reduced to less than half by expulsion flights and detentions.

Images of US border guards on horseback using long reins to whip at Black asylum seekers at the weekend caused outrage within the White House and from rights groups. – France24.com