Psaki insists envoy to Haiti 'never once' raised migrations concerns, despite his claims of being 'ignored'

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that newly-resigned U.S. special envoy for Haiti Daniel Foote "had ample opportunity to raise concerns about migration during his tenure," but "he never once did so." In his resignation letter, Foote claimed his policy recommendations had been "ignored and dismissed."

"That wasn't his purview," Psaki added. "His purview was, of course, being the special envoy on the ground." She insists Foote's views were "valued" and "heard," but "different policy decisions were made in some circumstances."

Psaki also said Foote didn't "raise his concerns about migration privately."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"We respect his point of view, respect his ability to bring forward concerns, to raise ideas, to raise proposals. That's certainly something the president welcomes from everybody on his team and something that he had the opportunity to do."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Border Patrol has temporarily suspended horse patrols in Del Rio, Texas following backlash to videos of horse-mounted agents chasing down migrants, the El Paso Times reports.

"We have ceased the use of the horse patrol in Del Rio temporarily," said DHS officials in a statement. "We'll prioritize other methods for identifying individuals who might be in medical distress." Officials also noted that about 7,000 migrants remain in Del Rio, "down from a peak of about 15,000 on Sept. 18," per the El Paso Times. About 4,050 people remain in the encampment under the bridge, "while the rest have been moved out of the elements and into the closed port of entry," notes USA Today and The Washington Post's Nick Miroff.