Immigration denies deportation plans in wake of high Court ruling

Santo Domingo.- Immigration Agency director José Ricardo Taveras denied Monday plans to deport people in the wake of the Constitutional Court ruling that denies Dominican citizenship to offspring of undocumented foreigners.

The official said there’s a campaign against the ruling, which he affirms aims to show that a group of foreign nationals will be left out for being irregularly enrolled in the civil registry.

"What the ruling has said is that those citizens should be regularized through the National Regularization Plan and what I’m explaining to all those in this situation is that contrary to the alarmism around the issue, saying that Immigration is going to deport, none of those citizens is at risk," Taveras said.

The Constitutional Court’s ruling last week denies nationality to the offspring born in the country, of undocumented foreign parents, which has caused wide reaction.

In that regard, constitutional law expert Eduardo Jorge Prats on Tuesday denied that the ruling will leave those people –especially Haitians- “stateless,” noting that Haiti’s Constitution recognizes them as citizens through ‘jus sanguini’ or by blood.