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“Dominican Republic Revokes Citizenship For Haitian Children”
dominican republic haitian
CREDIT: Ezequiel Abiu Lopez/AP Images
The Dominican Republic’s highest court has taken away the citizenship rights of children of Haitian migrants born after 1929, meaning that more than 210,000 Dominican-born children of Haitian descent could be deported by next year.
On Thursday, the Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court ruled to exclude a broad category of Haitians who were brought to work on sugarcane farms as well as their descendants. The court reasoned that Haitian farm workers in 1929 were “in transit,” which means that their children are not entitled to automatic citizenship. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed.
The electoral commission has one year to create a list of people who should be excluded from citizenship. There are currently about half a million Haitian-born people who live in the Dominican Republic and the ruling would affect at least 210,000 Dominican-born children of Haitian descent.
The government is considering deportation as an option for those children who have little or no ties to Haiti. According to Wade McMullen who told the Associated Press, “The majority of them don’t have Haitian citizenship, have little or no ties to Haiti and likely don’t speak Creole. Getting Haitian citizenship can be complicated too because it is difficult to comply with requirements to prove descent from a Haitian national.”
Haitian-born Elmo Bida Joseph, 21, who was denied a copy of his birth certificate said, “To all of a sudden be told no, you’re not Dominican, it’s very frustrating… I feel that’s around the corner. That in any moment I’ll be detained and they’ll send me to Haiti.”
Up until 2010, the Dominican Republic granted automatic citizenship to anyone born on Dominican Republic soil. But then, they narrowed citizenship criteria to children who were born to at least one parent of Dominican blood or whose foreign parents are legal residents. Thus far, more than 40,000 people of Haitian descent have been denied identity documents, with the government analyzing the birth certificates of at least 16,000 individuals.
The court and recent changes to the Dominican Republic’s Constitution rolled back what is known as “birthright citizenship.” In the United States, the right of those born on American soil to be U.S. citizens is guaranteed by the Constitution. But some lawmakers find birthright citizenship to be a problem– namely they want to ban birthright citizenship for children of undocumented migrants, some of whom also work on farms. Those lawmakers have long advocated for restricting birthright citizenship to children born on American soil to non-American parents. Yet immigration advocates fear that revoking birthright citizenship would create a permanent underclass of immigrants, with some individuals becoming “less-than-citizens.”
In the Dominican Republic, the deportation of so many Haitian-born individuals will likely cause a crisis in the coming year. It could also leave many of these individuals stateless, a type of banishment that would force them to experience the type of discrimination felt by 12 million other stateless people worldwide.
huh?!!?!?!?!?…………………born after 1929 yuh knw mi waan laff but nah cuz dis a bloodclaat phuckery nd a bored dem phucking bored.
Whatttttttttt…….So grandma and grandpa going to be deported?.After living and building their lives in DR
di haitian dem fi drop some obeah under dem bumbo
hole
DR NEED TO CREATE LAWS THAT WILL STOP PEDOPHILES N GAY MEN FROM COMING INTO THEIR COUNTRY N BUYING SEX FROM UNDERAGE LITTLE BOYS N FULL UP THE COUNTRY OF AIDS N ALL MANNER OF STDS
A DAT DEM NEED FI TAKE CARE OF SHIT HEAD DEM
This have got to be a joke. How can you deport a 84 year old from the place he or she was born and raise?
Supposed the US deside to deport all Dominicans who entered or born is the US after 2000bc
Well Metty and mi fellow JMG family bloggers, unu jus haffe hole tight til judgement day, cause The Almighty God aguh revoke ah deport nuff ah dem deh hypocrite ah heathens ah dutty hearted people weh nuh belong at Heaven’s door weh ah try seek citizenship in His Almighty kingdom..so…….what goes around, will eventually one day, come back around. no good deed ever goes unpunished, memba mi tell unu!!! :angel
For. Real. Them going to be deported to hell.
That really sound ridiculous..How can they strip people of citizenship after so many decades.I feel if you were born a certain place that’s where your from.Even England I hear if both parents illegal the children born there get no Citizenship of that country, I think that’s unfair.
This is not good at all. But at the last part of your comment as you mentioned England, I feel unsettled with the children of illegal immigrants getting citizenship as I know many Jamaicans (stating J’cans because they are mainly who I hang with other than Latina’s) that purposely come here just to have their children……please tell me why they do that?
fe better them selves quena weh yuh mean why dem purposely cum yah cum give birth…we all need help nd weh it deh wi ago seek it
In England they did away with the birthplace citizen yes but there is a clause if u have the child there n the child lives there for I think 7yrs uninterrupted they will be given citizenship as England contends that this is the environment that they are assimilated to n it would be hard for them to settle elsewhere.
Then thats not bad, then what happens to the illegal parents after 7 years? Any amnesty?
No amnesty but after 7 yrs in any country if u no marry r meet n associate with persons who can vouch n sponsor u that means u r not in the company or lifestyle.
Really..I have to go mention the clause to someone I know over there because they really struggling with the kids. People from all over Africa,China etc. Come over to America to deliver and return home…in there mind they thinking the children will be better off having U.S Citizenship.
I have a friend who got to England with one child 3 yrs old n then she had one like 2yrs after n after 7 yrs both children where granted their stay again on the premises that they only knew that way of life n plus the mum was able to sort herself out too.
If kids born in jamaica they are considered citizen of that country. Wether parents legal or illegal. The child should be able to get citizenship of whatever country their parents are citizen. All my kids are born in U.K. they should be entitled to get status in jamaica because Iwas born there.
N I’m sure they could if u apply for it
Met. Question what about plane and sea birth. Because if a land birth and its so complicated.
I dont know at all but I think dem give the plan based on where the plane will land
We as Jamaican feel the world gainst we but the Haitians can top we anytime pon who have it rough outta road. Big up to Haiti we all know a because unnu fight and win unnu freedom gainst whitey make them have unnu down fi so long. If only black people would realize how valuable the Haitian revolution was to them not being inna the field to this day a cut cane.
And as smaddy else say DR quite fine with them sex tourism fi pedo and fags but not fi hard working people? smh
it sad bad fakie and dr a nuh nuhwhey dem jus want to feel big and special
Fake Name yuh know whey yuh a talk ’bout!!!! Ef it wasn’t fi de Haitian Revolution ‘Merica wouldn’t get independence from the British so soon. Di Haitian slave dem beatout di French, Spanish and English Army dem bloodseed till dem affi run left Haiti. De Haitian slave dem bruk Bonaparte pocket wid di years a war ‘im did affi sell Louisiana to ‘Merica fi cheap cheap. Suh you right…dem a di fuss African nation fi win independence an all a now ‘Merica, France an England still a carry belly fi Haita. Mek DR gwaan play wid demself…dem nuh know wha kine a duppy pickle dem a sheg wid!
Haiti not ‘Haita’
Unnu realize that a slave transplanted from Jamaica to Haiti because him did too bad and nobody couldnt control him go Haiti started the Haitian Revolution.