Dominican Republic has its first de-stateless Haitian offspring

Santo Domingo.- Immigration Agency director José Ricardo Taveras on Monday said the Dominican Government will not allow abuses against those affected by the Constitutional Court ruling, and urged them to regularize their status.

The official said far from entering limbo, the ruling takes those people out of one, since they now have a status as immigrants. "I want to express to all citizens who are affected, in quotation marks, by the ruling, not to fear. I invite the community of foreign citizens, especially the Haitian community, who may feel that this ruling affects them, that in an administration headed by president Danilo Medina, that in our society… and in a State that has a vocation of legality and solidarity, there will be no space for abuse."

Taveras spoke during a press conference to hand the ID card to Marie Etienne Désir Joseph, 37, the first special temporary permit issued after the ruling. She admitted that her registration was irregular because her parents aren’t Dominican.

Desir Joseph, whose new status makers her the first “stateless” person to become de-stateless, is also eligible for a Dominican nationality, since she is married to a Dominican.