Why Dominican Republic’s Deportations of Haitians Reflects Racist Policies

The complicated history between the Dominican Republic and Haiti has come to a head in the last few years as the Dominican Republic seeks to deport Haitians. The Dominican government declared plans to deport up to 10,000 Haitians per week in October of this year. They are justifying the move by claiming an overabundance of immigrants. These mass deportation raids are the latest news of racist policies passed by the Dominican government because only dark-skinned Dominican, Dominicans of Haitian descent, and Haitians are those getting picked up by immigration. For context, the wheels had been set in motion for these raids over 10 years ago. According to the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Agency, on September 23, 2013, the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic (DR) delivered a judgment, which retroactively revoked the citizenship of all persons born in the DR after 1929, who do not have at least one Dominican parent.

It is important to know that there are half a million Dominicans of Haitian descent living in the DR and they are all at risk of denationalization. These individuals are being deported without support, resources, or ties to Haiti. Many have never been to Haiti before or speak Haitian Creole. In fact, these individuals are “stateless” because they do not have citizenship in the DR or Haiti. 

Before this judgment, titled 168/13, persons born on Dominican soil were granted citizenship regardless of their parent’s nationality. DR incentivized migration because they needed labor. For decades, Haitians settled in the Dominican Republic to work in sugarcane fields and banana plantations and, more recently, in the construction sector. However, government officials have stated that economic conditions and natural disasters justify the need to limit the migration of Haitians. Importantly, anti-Haitianism can also be traced back to the Parsley Massacre, which was the mass killing of over 20,000 Haitians and dark-skinned Dominicans in 1937 ordered by dictator Rafael Trujillo, who ruled DR from August 1930 until his assassination in May 1961.

My First-Hand Witness Account of Deportations

As a Dominican-American who has seen firsthand how these raids are being conducted, I feel educated enough to speak on this subject matter. I was almost arrested trying to protect minors from being deported without their parents. It was July 2017 and I was living and working for an educational nonprofit in the Dominican Republic that ran a coffee shop to raise funds for their mission. 

A Dominican Immigration Officer violently barges into the coffee shop – almost taking down the door with him. I’m startled and then my eyes are fixed on his massive shotgun. He grabs one of my 12-year-old students and yells, “Y tus papeles?,” demanding to see proof of citizenship.

I stand in front of him to shield her. He looks like he’s in his early twenties. I’m hoping my limited understanding of the ever-shifting Dominican immigration laws surpasses his. I assert, “She is a minor and legally you cannot deport her without her parents.” He sizes me up while pointing his gun in our direction. After a tense silence, he finally turns and storms out without saying a word.”

I stay frozen until his footsteps fade. Moving to the door, I lock it. Through the curtain, I see the bus finally pull away. I let out a loud, unintentional sigh. My heartbeat slows, the heat at the back of my neck fades, and I feel my body begin to relax. As the one in charge, I’m not supposed to show fear—but I was afraid.

My student hugs me. A swirl of thoughts fills my mind as I search for the right words to comfort her. Before I can respond, she looks up and asks, “Is it because we’re Haitian?” I meet her gaze and slowly nod. With a composure far beyond her years, she quietly wonders, “Why do they hate us?” And in that moment, I find myself without an answer. 

Why Is This Important?

We need to learn from our history or we’re doomed to repeat it. Immigration officers are splitting up families and causing severe trauma. Due to racial profiling, if you’re dark-skinned you’re thrown onto buses with force. These officers don’t check if they are citizens or not, which is a human rights violation. The Parsley Massacre took thousands of lives. How many more have to suffer at the hands of racism? 

I want peace in the region because both Dominicans and Haitians deserve that. We deserve to be freed from the effects of colonization, slavery, and Trujilloism. Importantly, instead of seeing my beautiful country use its resources on deportations, I want to see them invest in infrastructure and schools. Poverty is a real issue in the Dominican Republic and it’s heartbreaking to see DR use its resources in such a cruel and divisive way instead of investing it in services future generations would benefit from. 

A Call To Action

What should we do to address this problem? As a Dominican-American mother, author, and activist, I take on the responsibility of speaking up against these human rights violations. I discuss this with my family, on social media platforms, and other outlets to raise awareness of what is happening. We need to amplify the stories of those experiencing statelessness at the hands of the Dominican government on social media, podcasts, articles, and the like.

Collectively, we need to exercise empathy and place ourselves in the shoes of our Haitian brothers and sisters. What if this happened to us and our loved ones? When we examine this crisis through this lens, I can urge the international community to hold the Dominican Republic accountable for these human rights violations. We need to take to the streets and protest. Those who can vote need to elect leaders who know this is not the solution. 

We also need to boycott anti-Haitian establishments; resorts, restaurants, and other businesses that support deportations need to realize that the international community does not support these practices and therefore will not support them economically.

Books to Read

Lastly, as a children’s book author, I write books that center around my Dominican and Puerto Rican identity. I know books have power because I’ve had the privilege of hearing about the impact my books have had on my young fans. With that said, I recommend the following books written by Haitian and Dominican authors:

1. Farming of the Bones by Haitian American author Edwidge Danticat: This is a work of historical fiction about an orphaned young Haitian woman living in the Dominican Republic who gets caught up in the carnage of the Parsley massacre during the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo.
2. A Wedding In Haiti by Dominican American author Julia Alvarez: A young Haitian boy, known as Piti, takes us on a journey into experiences that challenge our way of thinking about history and how it can be reimagined when people from two countries, traditional enemies, and strangers become friends.
3. Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Haitian American writers Maika and Maritza Moulite: The Moulite sisters’ debut novel centers on Alaine Beauparlant who travels to Haiti, her family’s homeland, and learns about their history and that of the world’s first Black republic.

Alyssa Reynoso-Morris is a queer Afro-Latinx Dominican and Puerto Rican award-winning storyteller, community organizer, and mother.