U.S. special envoy to Haiti resigns

The Biden administration appointed Daniel Foote in July to support the U.S. ambassador to Haiti following President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination. Foote resigned this morning in protest of the administration’s “inhumane” treatment of Haitian migrants at the Texas-Mexico border. He specifically criticized deportation flights and accusations of Border Patrol violence. Foote previously complained that the government has been ignoring and altering his recommendations for U.S. policy in Haiti.

What is the situation at the border? As of Thursday, 4,000 migrants who illegally crossed the Rio Grande remained at the encampment under the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas. The camp recently held as many as 14,000 people. Thirteen expulsion flights have sent at least 1,400 Haitians back to their home country. The U.S. Border Patrol is processing roughly 3,200 more migrants in custody, and thousands returned to Mexico to avoid deportation. Some of the migrants have been released into the United States with orders to appear before immigration agents within 60 days.

Dig deeper: Read Charissa Koh’s report in Compassion about where some of the Haitian migrants are going.