A group of Haitian-American diplomats rebuked President Trump Donald John TrumpObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE in an open letter Saturday, saying his comments that the U.S. didn't need more immigrants from Haiti caused "heartbreak and despair."

The diplomats say in the letter released to PBS NewsHour that Trump's comments were especially difficult to hear on the anniversary of the deadly 2010 earthquake.

“January 12th marked the 8th anniversary of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that shook Haiti, taking more than 200,000 innocent lives,” the letter reads.

“As American diplomats of Haitian heritage, we woke up to heartbreak and despair from reports of disparaging remarks emanating from the administration we serve, as we mourned family members lost on that fateful day," it continues.

The letter comes after Trump reportedly questioned whether the U.S. needed "more Haitians" during an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers, according to Sen. Dick Durbin Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinMcConnell focuses on confirming judicial nominees with COVID-19 talks stalled Senate Republicans signal openness to working with Biden Top GOP senator calls for Biden to release list of possible Supreme Court picks MORE (D-Ill.), who attended.

"He said, ‘Haitians, do we need more Haitians?’ ” Durbin said.

The Washington Post reported that Trump in the same meeting referred to immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as coming from “shithole countries.”

The signatories of the letter have asked to remain anonymous because they continue to work as foreign service officers for the U.S. State Department.

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In the letter, the group writes that Haitian-Americans make up the fabric of American society, and declares that "there is no America without immigrants, both old and new."

"Haitian-Americans, like Salvadoran and Nigerian Americans, are one of many immigrant groups that make up our country’s mosaic," the letter reads. "Nearly one million Haitian-Americans contribute to the fabric of America. Haitian immigrants contribute to American society as doctors, taxi drivers, lawyers, nurses, teachers and more."

Trump's comments were met with sharp criticism from the House's lone Haitian-American lawmaker, Rep. Mia Love Ludmya (Mia) LoveFormer NFL player Burgess Owens wins Utah GOP primary The Hill's Campaign Report: The political heavyweights in Tuesday's primary fights The biggest political upsets of the decade MORE (R-Utah), who said the comments were "unkind, divisive, elitist and fly in the face of our nation's values."

"My parents came from one of those countries but proudly took an oath of allegiance to the United States and took on the responsibilities of everything that being a citizen comes with," she said in a statement.