Dominican Crackdown Leaves Children of Haitian Immigrants in Legal Limbo


Ángel Luis Joseph, 17, training with a friend near San Pedro de Macoris, the Dominican Republic. His status as the child of Haitian immigrants threatens his dream of playing in the United States.

By MARC LACEY
Published: May 25, 2008
SAN PEDRO DE MACORIS, Dominican Republic — Two obsessions define this country: baseball and Haiti. Ángel Luis Joseph, a teenage outfielder with a hot bat, is caught between Dominicans’ devotion to the one and disdain for the other.

So many major leaguers have emerged from this sugar town that agents keep an eye on even pint-size players with potential. Ángel, 17, was only a lanky grade school boy when his coach noticed he showed all the signs of becoming a standout. Before long, the San Francisco Giants came calling with a $350,000 offer, he said.

But then politics interfered with his dream. To obtain a visa to the United States, Ángel went to a local government office to get a copy of his birth certificate. Little did he know that the Dominican government had recently begun a crackdown on the children of Haitian immigrants, even those like him who have lived their whole lives in the Dominican Republic.

“If your last name is weird, they won’t give you your documents,” he said. “Same thing if your skin is dark like mine.”

Ángel’s request for his birth record was denied, prompting the Giants to withdraw the offer.

His parents, like hundreds of thousands of others, moved from Haiti to the Dominican Republic in the 1970s to work in the sugar cane fields. Their children were born in the Dominican Republic, grew up here and became, in their eyes at least, full-fledged Dominicans. They speak Spanish, dance merengue and play “pelota,” the popular name for the Dominican pastime baseball.

“They don’t play baseball in Haiti,” said Melanie Teff, who has studied the issue for Refugees International, an advocacy group in Washington. “That shows how Dominican this guy and many people like him are.”

The government does not necessarily agree, and Ángel awaits a ruling on his appeal for access to his Dominican birth record.

The issue arose with a fury several years ago when advocates took the government to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, whose jurisdiction the Dominican Republic acknowledges, to protest the denial of birth certificates to two ethnic Haitian children.

While the case was in process, the government changed its migration law in 2004 to specifically exclude the offspring of Haitian migrants from citizenship. The Dominican Constitution grants citizenship to those born on Dominican soil, except the children of diplomats and those “in transit.” That has long meant that the children of immigrants, no matter their legal status, gained Dominican citizenship.

After the international court ruled against the Dominican government in 2005, ordering that damages be paid to the two children, the Dominican Supreme Court said that Haitian workers were considered “in transit” and that their children were therefore Haitian, not Dominican.

Last spring, the government agency in charge of identity documents, the Joint Electoral Council, issued a memorandum telling its employees to watch for the offspring of foreigners trying to identify themselves as Dominican. It now hangs at every clerk’s office and is shown to people thought to have Haitian blood.

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“The issue of Haiti has become very combustible in the Dominican context,” said Daniel Erikson, director of Caribbean programs at the Inter-American Dialogue, a research group in Washington. “You have a deep resentment of Haiti, and that’s driving these responses that don’t reflect favorably on the country.”

Government officials point out the strain that poor illegal immigrants from Haiti put on the Dominican Republic. The two countries share the island of Hispaniola but have vastly different levels of development.

Of course, Haitians contribute, too. They have long worked in the jobs Dominicans did not want to do, mostly cutting cane on plantations that supply sugar to the United States. The government has not just known of their presence for decades but has in some cases encouraged their arrival.

The Dominican government says the new crackdown is a security matter, aimed at wiping out fraud. And in some cases over the years, young Haitians who had crossed the border illegally claimed to have been born on the Dominican side.

But opponents accuse the government of applying its 2004 law retroactively, which they call an illegal practice that has longstanding societal animosity against Haitians at its heart.

“The racist beliefs of some are being used to twist our laws,” said Cristóbal Rodríguez Gómez, a Dominican constitutional law professor at Ibero-American University, who is acting as counsel for another descendant of Haitians who lacks documents. “This is a crime, a monstrous crime.”

In a recent report, two United Nations experts found “a profound and entrenched problem of racism and discrimination” in the Dominican Republic, mostly affecting people of Haitian origin. The report said Haitians and their descendants face “extreme vulnerability, unjustified deportations, racial discrimination, and are denied the full enjoyment of their human rights.”

The Dominican government rejected the conclusions, portraying the relationship between the neighbors as one of solidarity.

Ángel is one of many who find their lives in limbo under the new rules. Emildo Bueno Oguis, 33, a college student who recently married an American woman, could not get his birth certificate either and therefore cannot apply to the American Embassy for residency to join her in Florida.

Mr. Oguis, whom Mr. Rodríguez represents, challenged the government’s decision in court, accusing the council of denying his rights. But his claim was rejected, despite the fact that he had previously been issued a Dominican identity card and a Dominican passport.

Confusing the matter, a lower court judge ruled in favor of another descendant of Haitian immigrants, Nuny Angra Luis, who had been denied her birth certificate. That decision was announced the same week in April as the other, diametrically opposed ruling.

Demetrio F. Francisco de Los Santos, a government lawyer, dismisses the notion that anyone’s rights are being violated. Descendants of Haitians, he argues in court documents, can simply go to the nearest Haitian consulate for their documents.

While Haitian law does grant citizenship to the offspring of Haitians, the issue is complex. Ángel’s parents would have to prove they are Haitian for him to get citizenship in Haiti, a country which he has never visited.

While some are indignant about the Dominican crackdown, Ángel seems surprisingly calm.

Before a recent practice, in which he flagged fly balls and then fired them into the infield, Ángel said his mother could not sleep after he lost the Giants contract. (“Ángel Luis Joseph is one of a number of players in the Dominican that clubs are finding do not have the proper paperwork to prove their identity or age,” the Giants said in a statement, indicating that the team had been forced to look for someone else.)

Ángel may have another shot. The Cleveland Indians have come calling, he said, visiting the humble shack that he shares with his parents and seven siblings just outside a sugarcane field.

The Indians’ offer was about a third of that put forward by the Giants, but still a windfall for a boy from a batey, the name for the workers’ camps that grow up around sugar cane plantations.

But while he awaits a ruling, he acknowledges worrying that he will see his dream disappear a second time.

“God wants me to be a baseball player — that I know,” he said. What he does not know is whether the Dominican Republic, the country he considers himself from, agrees.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/world/americas/25dominican.html?_r=1&hp;&oref;=slogina

Emildo Bueno Oguis talks with Haitian-Dominican activist Sonia Pierre (Solange Pierre).

Reuters photo

RPichardo - 25 May 2008 03:09 AM

Emildo Bueno Oguis talks with Haitian-Dominican activist Sonia Pierre (Solange Pierre).

Reuters photo

I really resent the behavior of the Dominican officials toward our brothers & sisters born in the DR from Haitian parents. They (*Dominicans) were always been the worst human rights violators in the history of Hispaniola after C. Columbus & his gang; *murdering so many Haitians. Apparently, there were that resentment & hate that have remained thru the years which I believe those Haitian borns are suffering the consequences. I also blame all Haitian governments who never took time to look deeply into this matter but rather collecting pesos on each of their owns living in batey.

Now, what is left to be done?

Setup a court called "Hispaniola Court"at the border for all those people to go to when both governments sharing this island deny them a birth certificate. Once attending a hearing session, a neutral judge can issue an official birth certificate, stating the nationality as "Hispaniolan". After all, they are from Hispaniola no matter what...

This issue is very very complicated.

Yes Amani-y as you stated...the issue is very complicated with not two but dozens of sides to the story. Sovereignty/human rights/morality & ethics/tolerance/ethnic parasitism/xenophobia and etc all come into play when discussing whether or not Dominican-born Haitians or the children of Haitian migrants (even the political correctness of the terms are complex) should be granted citizenship in their country of birth. I really feel sorrow for my brothers & sisters that have to endure this limbo.

I was in Washington heights yesterday since the haitian parade was brooklyn yesterday and plus` i'm from flatbush,bklyn i wear my haitian flag thru a bbq i was invite to, because one of my best freind invite me to a Bar-ber-que, so the Bar-ber-que is in a Dominican neighborhood. me and my freind wanted to walk around park.so i had `my haitian flag on and couple of jewelry on , Them dominicans was giveing me some dirty looks. i feel so uncomfortable. i took my haitian self. right back to the lake, where hudson river was showing from upper manhattan to look at the state of new jersey. i personally have nothing against dominicans. but i don't see why they have hatred against they neghibhood's. it seems like.but they do have some freindly Dominicans out there

Amani-y - 26 May 2008 04:39 PM

RPichardo - 25 May 2008 03:09 AM

Emildo Bueno Oguis talks with Haitian-Dominican activist Sonia Pierre (Solange Pierre).

Reuters photo

I really resent the behavior of the Dominican officials toward our brothers & sisters born in the DR from Haitian parents. They (*Dominicans) were always been the worst human rights violators in the history of Hispaniola after C. Columbus & his gang; *murdering so many Haitians. Apparently, there were that resentment & hate that have remained thru the years which I believe those Haitian borns are suffering the consequences. I also blame all Haitian governments who never took time to look deeply into this matter but rather collecting pesos on each of their owns living in batey.

Now, what is left to be done?

Setup a court called "Hispaniola Court"at the border for all those people to go to when both governments sharing this island deny them a birth certificate. Once attending a hearing session, a neutral judge can issue an official birth certificate, stating the nationality as "Hispaniolan". After all, they are from Hispaniola no matter what...

This issue is very very complicated.

The issue is complicated and yet simple...

How to tell apart somebody who was born in the DR and one that just crossed the border after living the better part of their lives in Haiti? The answer is that a linguistic expert could spot the fake during a short evaluation...

The problem for this approach to ascertain Dominican citizenship: Many families cross the border to the DR and settled in the DR with very young kids born in Haiti, but since they arrived very young, acquired the linguistically prowess of fellow Dominicans with ease and now are just as Dominican linguistically leaning as the President of the DR...

How to tell somebody is Dominican or Haitian with the documentation provided by the JCE before? The answer lies in that all people must include parental bio-data to be able to get a Cedula in the DR. Many people that got their old cedulas included the data of their parents to get those documents.

The problem is that most of the parents didn't qualify as proof of Dominican citizenship, mainly because they couldn’t provide a Cedula # themselves, hence was listed as foreign nationals in the bio-data records...
Now when somebody that owns one of these old cedulas tries to renew, they're confronted with the new regulations that require bio-data proof to the JCE in order to clear all doubts of their Dominican citizenship legality.

How you continue to the program to allow pregnant Haitians to reach Dominican Hospitals for pre/birth/post natal care if the constitution is changed to allow all that are born in the DR's soil to be able to claim citizenship? The answer is to halt the program cold on its tracks if real changes and legalization of all born in the DR is going to be achieved...

The problem is that DR's public Hospitals need the influx of these women in order to fill the gap of the learning medical students in development in all those big hospitals under the direct handling of the medical universities of the country. The Dominican family keeps a much lower pregnancy ratio than their Haitian counter part, so students would have very little chance of getting the skills and real world knowledge required to become Doctors in the DR's colleges.

Most people in the DR get free medical care via these Hospitals and as such, the students learn most of the ills that affect or may affect the general population. Haitians get little health care, if free, in their country; therefore, many that cross the border are given health care free of charge and at the same time, provide priceless education and training to the students in those Hospitals...

99% of people born to Haitian parents that crossed the border illegally into the DR are 100% able to prove their Haitian ancestry to the local Haitian Consular officials... But the Haitian gov wouldn't provide one single document to those people even in Haiti!!!

The DR is not the only country to deny citizenship to those born to undocumented people within its borders; there are many countries that support those laws as well! The DR must however come clean on the issue of using a recently enacted amendment to the constitution that is being applied "retroactively" to those people that fall within that category as the case of two people of Haitian ancestry provided in two different courts conflicting each other's observations to issue their final "verdicts".

Until the Supreme Court is not challenged by the verdict of a lower court by the DA, the law will not see any changes today or tomorrow. However, the work of activists like Sonia Pierre (Solange Pierre) and others that are in fact seeking political and social recognition are making in roads to this end in the DR...

If the Haitian gov allowed many Haitians to be able to get their documentation in the DR, they could gain residency and later citizenship in the DR, as many who came with their original documents to the DR already own homes and business in the DR today do. The DR won't make any distinctions on who can apply for residence in the DR and eventual citizenship, all they need is to pay a lawyer to get the paperwork rolling. But those who lack the basic of basic in documentation don't have any chances at all...

In the DR residents must pay taxes, residency fess and added VAT as well...

haitianprince - 26 May 2008 08:54 PM

I was in Washington heights yesterday since the haitian parade was brooklyn yesterday and plus` i'm from flatbush,bklyn i wear my haitian flag thru a bbq i was invite to, because one of my best freind invite me to a Bar-ber-que, so the Bar-ber-que is in a Dominican neighborhood. me and my freind wanted to walk around park.so i had `my haitian flag on and couple of jewelry on , Them dominicans was giveing me some dirty looks. i feel so uncomfortable. i took my haitian self. right back to the lake, where hudson river was showing from upper manhattan to look at the state of new jersey. i personally have nothing against dominicans. but i don't see why they have hatred against they neghibhood's. it seems like.but they do have some freindly Dominicans out there

How do you think a Dominican walking with a Dominican flag into the heart of little Haiti in Miami would get looked at?

Now, leave the flag and take the walk again to WH and let me know how many looks they gave you again...

Common sense!!!

A Brazilian, Colombian, Peruvian, Puerto Rican (gasp!) wouldn't have fared any better...

Common sense!!!!

RPichardo - 28 May 2008 01:03 AM

haitianprince - 26 May 2008 08:54 PM

I was in Washington heights yesterday since the haitian parade was brooklyn yesterday and plus` i'm from flatbush,bklyn i wear my haitian flag thru a bbq i was invite to, because one of my best freind invite me to a Bar-ber-que, so the Bar-ber-que is in a Dominican neighborhood. me and my freind wanted to walk around park.so i had `my haitian flag on and couple of jewelry on , Them dominicans was giveing me some dirty looks. i feel so uncomfortable. i took my haitian self. right back to the lake, where hudson river was showing from upper manhattan to look at the state of new jersey. i personally have nothing against dominicans. but i don't see why they have hatred against they neghibhood's. it seems like.but they do have some freindly Dominicans out there

. How do you think a Dominican walking with a Dominican flag into the heart of little Haiti in Miami would get looked at?

Now, leave the flag and take the walk again to WH and let me know how many looks they gave you again...

Common sense!!!

A Brazilian, Colombian, Peruvian, Puerto Rican (gasp!) wouldn't have fared any better...

Common sense!!!!

and to be honest with you I wouldn't care if dominician is walking with dominican flag in little haiti,i wouldn't give that person a bad look, first all little haiti is in the u.s.a and everyone titled to walk in little haiti freeely with nation flag you want. little haiti is not haiti soil, i can't tell regular citizen who not haitian not to walk in little haiti.miami not my country.

oh please don't hand me that Bull Sh*t. Face it you know for yourself Dominican people are very Prejudicie(not all dominicians). The Dominican kids are Born Haiti soil.You don't see the Haitian Goverment Denial there citizenship. and you know for sure Dominician people don't like the Black race.

You know if Dominican girl brings west-indian man to her house to meet her parents, you know for sure her father going to have heart-attack. That why U.s.a and dominican goverment get along so close. beacause you are both raci*t countries !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL!!!

(I know some people have said not to leave 1-word comment, but thanks for the laugh! ROTFL)