A Biden administration dispute over its handling of Haiti has spilled into the open as officials contend with Haitian nationals migrating to the United States illegally.
In a leaked resignation letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former Haiti special envoy Daniel Foote accused the administration of “inhumane, counterproductive” deportations.
Foote, appointed less than two months ago following the assassination of Haiti’s late President Jovenel Moïse in July, said his recommendations were “ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.”
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Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based forum on Western Hemisphere affairs, said Foote’s letter symbolizes the outrage that many feel.
“Whatever the legal justification, it is hard to square sending back Haitian migrants, many who have been outside the country over a decade, with basic standards of decency and a ‘humane’ approach, as the Biden administration has pledged,” Shifter said.
In a statement on Thursday, Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, a Democrat and the co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, said the administration had failed to address the crisis in Haiti and slammed the deportation policy, echoing Foote’s criticism.
“I have been telling anyone who will listen since January that I believe the administration’s Haiti policy is misguided,” Levin wrote. “I do not think it is unfair for Ambassador Foote to characterize that policy today as ‘inhumane.’”
Senior Biden administration officials pushed back on Foote, impugning his effort in the role.
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Foote advised sending troops to Haiti to secure the country — a request from members of Haiti’s government to help strengthen the country’s critical infrastructure.
The Pentagon and other national security officials reviewed the request at the time, roiling divisions inside the administration.
“Sending the U.S. military into Haiti is not the answer that will solve the terrible situation that the Haitian people are currently facing,” Sherman told the Miami Herald. “It just was a bad idea.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki and State Department spokesman Ned Price said Foote had failed to voice his concerns over Haitian migrants.
Psaki said the former diplomat had opportunities to raise his concerns “in a range of meetings.”
“Special envoy Foote had ample opportunity to raise concerns about migration,” she told reporters on Thursday. “He never once did so.”
“He failed to take advantage of ample opportunity to raise concerns about migration during his tenure and chose to resign instead,” said Price, charging in a statement that Foote “mischaracterized the circumstances of his resignation.”
“No ideas are ignored, but not all ideas are good ideas,“ he added.
The deportations have prompted a rebuke from Democrats nationwide. Haiti is still recovering from an earthquake in August that killed some 2,000 people and injured thousands more. The country also faces increased proliferation of armed gangs and political instability following Moise’s violent murder in July.
More than 50 Democratic lawmakers called for “indefinitely halting” deportations to Haiti in a letter to Homeland Security and Health and Human Services departments last week, citing the circumstances.
Seventeen attorneys general led by Karl Racine of Washington, D.C., sent a letter this week to Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking the administration to reconsider its use of the Title 42 public health rule to expel Haitian migrants.
“As a Haitian immigrant, these photos and articles cut deep,” Racine said.
The Biden administration has rejected allegations it is selectively applying immigration law to deport Haitians over other migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally along the southern border.
“We are continuing to expel people coming from a range of countries,” Psaki told reporters on Thursday. “Our border restrictions are being applied not just to Haitians but to people who are coming irregularly to migrate to the country from anywhere … we are applying immigration laws.”
Responding to criticism over images of Border Patrol agents on horseback chasing down migrants, Psaki said Customs and Border Protection would cease using horses in Del Rio.
Shifter said the situation should prompt an overhaul of the country’s “ad hoc and broken” immigration system.
“Though the politics of the immigration issue are very difficult, Foote’s powerful statement will hopefully add some pressure on the U.S. Congress to finally act,” he said.
Foote’s letter also criticized the administration’s support for Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who assumed control of the country following a power struggle in the aftermath of Moïse’s death. Henry, who is backed by the international community, recently ordered the firing of the top prosecutor investigating Moïse’s death.
Levin echoed Foote’s concerns.
“For reasons I don’t understand, the U.S. continues to insist on supporting — truthfully, propping up — the de facto government of Ariel Henry, which has neither a constitutional basis nor public support in Haiti or the diaspora,” he said.
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Shifter praised Foote’s letter, arguing the attention it has brought “could lead to a rethinking of deportations …. as well as a different, more constructive U.S. policy towards Haiti.”
“U.S. disengagement from Haiti is not an option,” Shifter said. “[Washington] can and should be helpful, but the approach needs to be subtle and responsive to Haitian views on the way out of the country’s deep crisis.”
