Dominican Republic excludes descendants of 'illegal' Haitians | World War 4 Report

2.10.13

Dominican Republic excludes descendants of 'illegal' Haitians | World War 4 Report: The Dominican Constitution was amended in 2010 to exclude the children of undocumented immigrants from citizenship; even before that, the Central Electoral Council (JCE) had refused for several years to issue papers to the grown children of undocumented immigrants. The new ruling goes much further. It is based on a clause in the 1929 Constitution granting citizenship to "all persons who are born in the territory of the Republic, with the exception of the legitimate children of foreigners resident in the country as diplomatic representatives or those who are in transit in it." Citing a 1939 law, the TC ruled that "in transit" was different from "transient" and included everyone without legal status. The decision could apparently take citizenship away from Haitian-descended Dominicans now in their 80s and render them stateless.