U.S. and Dominican Immigration Policies: Is There a Difference?

22.10.15

U.S. and Dominican Immigration Policies: Is There a Difference?: [upsidedownworld.org] In 2010 a revised and very conservative Constitution carried the process further by eliminating birthright citizenship for the children of foreigners “residing illegally in the Dominican territory”; previous constitutions had only denied citizenship to the children of foreign diplomats and foreigners “in transit” (in the country for ten days or less, according to a 1939 law). The Constitutional Tribunal, the Dominican equivalent of the U.S. Supreme Court, expanded the denial of citizenship in September 2013. According to the court’s Decision 168-13, “in transit” in the earlier constitutions can apply to any unauthorized immigrant. This in effect revokes the citizenship of Dominicans born to undocumented parents since 1929—as many as 200,000 people, according to some estimates.