The participation of illegal Haitians in jobs in the country has been increasing.
There are no areas that have not been affected by this phenomenon.
From traditional, such as the sugar industry, agriculture, and construction, they have extended their presence to public transportation, street sales, domestic service, security companies, hotels, and an endless number of informal trades.
Although there is a regulation in the Labor Code (article 135) that establishes a quota of 20 percent of the jobs in formal companies for legal foreigners, this is not complied with.
And precisely, this is a challenge that President Luis Abinader promised to face when he proclaimed that jobs, primarily, should be for Dominicans.
In support of this legal predicament, the National Confederation of Transportation Organizations (CONATRA) has ordered its unions, federations, and companies not to allow illegal Haitians to be employed on their routes, much less to allow them to use them.
CONATRA is exercising an attribute that should be observed by the rest of the formal companies in the country if we genuinely want to reestablish the value that the migration law and the Labor Code itself have to regulate the entrance and permanence of foreigners on our soil.
It is a restorative measure since numerous cases have been reported of Haitian drivers or motoconchistas, primarily illegal, operating public transportation routes in rented or purchased vehicles without documents.
This massive presence of illegal Haitians is stirring up the spirits of many Dominicans and entities of society, who frequently protest against the misconduct or involvement of these immigrants in criminal acts in the face of the apparent negligence of the authorities responsible for enforcing the laws.
We cannot allow society to become fed up with this problem and then opt for drastic solutions if the authorities continue to be incapable of achieving it by the simple means of the law and the will of those in power.