On Thursday, Daniel Foote, the U.S. special envoy to Haiti, resigned from his position in protest of the inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees. He blasted President Joe Bidens policy as deeply flawed.

It was a stunning moment in the rapidly escalating crisis at the border, and yet another sign that Biden is losing the support of people in his own party and even members of his administration over his hard-line approach to Haitian migrants.

Allies on Capitol Hill and beyond said they had high hopes that Biden would deliver on his promise of prioritizing refugees and asylum seekers through more humane immigration policies. Now, theyre distressed that that is not happening with Haitian migrants, who are being denied the chance to make asylum claims and, in many cases, are being sent back to Haiti under Title 42, a Trump-era order that, ostensibly due to the pandemic, allows immigration officials to quickly deport people crossing the border, typically without giving them a chance to apply for asylum.

Haitian asylum seekers and refugees many who trekked thousands of miles across South America to cross at the U.S.-Mexico border only be deported back to Mexico have been subjected to anti-Black discrimination and violence . At least 61% of Haitian asylum seekers blocked from U.S. asylum protections reported being the victim of a crime while in Mexico, including kidnapping, rape, and robbery, according to an April report .

We cannot continue these hateful and xenophobic Trump policies that disregard our refugee laws, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday in a speech on the Senate floor. We must allow asylum-seekers to present their claims at our ports of entry and be afforded due process.

Schumer, who represents the largest concentration of Haitian immigrants in the country, urged Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to cease the expulsion of Haitian migrants and end its use of Title 42.

Biden has yet to speak publicly about the issue, even after a photographer captured U.S. border agents on horseback, chasing migrants and appearing to whip them. Julin Castro, a member of former President Barack Obamas Cabinet, called the president out for his silence in an interview with HuffPost.

It is baffling and disappointing that President Biden himself has not clearly and forcefully spoken out against the mistreatment of Haitian asylum seekers. That seems like a no-brainer, said Castro.

There are so many folks in Washington that are afraid to touch this issue, he continued. What they dont get is that this issue is going to touch them, whether they want it to or not. So they might as well speak to it in clear value-based terms.