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Santo Domingo.- Dominican legislators are advocating for stricter border controls to address the high number of births by Haitian mothers in the country, which has surpassed 29,000 this year. Despite calling for measures to limit the entry of expectant Haitian mothers, they maintain that those already in the country should receive necessary healthcare.
Senator Santiago Zorrilla emphasized the need to prevent Haitian women from crossing the border to give birth but underscored that once they are in Dominican territory, denying them medical assistance would be unacceptable. He also pointed to the role of individuals facilitating their entry, calling for enhanced border oversight.
Senator Rafael Duluc echoed this sentiment, highlighting that healthcare is a fundamental right. He agreed that reinforcing border and immigration controls is essential to mitigate the issue. A report by Listín Diario indicates that Haitian mothers accounted for 32% to 40% of all births in Dominican hospitals from January to November 2024.
Call for stricter control! Thought it has been under strict control according to previous reports coming from the authorities. Is the stricter control mean to dismantle the border mafias, to include arrests of military and officials enabling illegal cross border traffic?
How about Haitians not breaking our immigration laws? Why is it the burden of action falls always on Dominicans?
The trend over the last 10 years is an increasing reliance, by Haitian women, on Dominican healthcare services. Today, it has been exacerbated by the collapse of Haiti’s healthcare infrastructure and security woes. Dominican Rep. is damned if they strictly enforce immigration laws and equally damned if they don’t. In the meantime, the Haitian political elites, diaspora, rich, etc…do nothing for their kin.
when will this border be sealed?
Its like the left never talks to the right hand here . If the border was really sealed, then immigration could methodically return undocument migrants back. Its not, its makes too much profit for the underpaid criminals in dominican uniforms on the border.