US warns its 'darker-skinned' citizens of Dominican Republic's migrant crackdown

[Eugene]

Also: Alert: Ongoing Dominican Migration Enforcement (U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic)

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Source: The Guardian

US warns its ‘darker-skinned’ citizens of Dominican Republic’s migrant crackdown

Haitian migrants are being deported from Caribbean country and authorities seem to be targeting people based on their appearance

Richard Luscombe in Miami
@richlusc
Tue 22 Nov 2022 19.53 GMT
Last modified on Tue 22 Nov 2022 20.31 GMT

US officials in the Dominican Republic are warning “darker-skinned” Americans they are at risk of being swept up in the country’s crackdown on Haitian migrants.

The advice from the US embassy in Santo Domingo suggests that authorities there are using a person’s appearance as a criteria for detention of those suspected of being in the country illegally.

The Dominican Republic says it has deported 43,900 migrants, mostly Haitians, between July and October in an operation it insists is necessary for national security amid growing unrest, gang crime and a fuel blockade inside its only neighbour on the island of Hispaniola.

The expulsions include hundreds of children sent to Haiti without their parents, according to Unicef, reported by CNN.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/22/us-warns-darker-skinned-citizens-crackdown-dominican-republic

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Source: U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic

Related: Alert: Ongoing Dominican Migration Enforcement

This message is to advise U.S. citizens that in recent months travelers to the Dominican Republic have reported being delayed, detained, or subject to heightened questioning at ports of entry and in other encounters with immigration officials based on their skin color. Reports of disparate treatment of U.S. citizens by Dominican authorities are a matter of ongoing concern to the U.S. Embassy.

In addition, in recent days, as reported in Dominican media, Dominican Migration (DGM) agents have conducted widespread operations aimed at detaining those they believe to be undocumented migrants, especially persons of Haitian descent. In some cases, authorities have not respected these individuals’ legal status in the Dominican Republic or nationality. These actions may lead to increased interaction with Dominican authorities, especially for darker skinned U.S. citizens and U.S. citizens of African descent. There are reports that detainees are kept in overcrowded detention centers, without the ability to challenge their detention, and without access to food or restroom facilities, sometimes for days at a time, before being released or deported to Haiti.

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By U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo | 19 November, 2022

Read more: https://do.usembassy.gov/alert-ongoing-dominican-migration-enforcement/

[Judi Lynn]

1. The DR problem with racism has been around a long time. This is monstrous.

Thanks for the information concerning this sudden explosion which is connected to a third country we know. What a miserable shame.