National Migration Council has not met in over two and a half years

Santo Domingo.- The National Migration Council (CNM) last convened on September 8, 2022, over two years ago, to discuss the normalization of businesses employing foreign workers. The meeting, held in the Los Trinitarios hall at the National Palace, was considered routine, with no official details released about its proceedings. However, sources revealed that the CNM was focused on ensuring compliance with Law 285-04 on Migration, particularly its provisions on the proportion of foreign employees in the private sector, which mandates that 80% of employees must be Dominican and 20% foreign.

At that time, the CNM was chaired by Jesús Vásquez Martínez, the current Dominican Republic Consul in New York, with Enrique Martínez serving as the Director of Immigration. The country was facing an ongoing Haitian crisis, driven by violence, economic instability, and social unrest, challenges that have only intensified with the increasing control of gangs and the limited success of international peacekeeping efforts led by Kenyan soldiers.

The CNM, established in 2004 by General Migration Law No. 285-04, is tasked with designing national migration policies and coordinating the actions of various institutions involved in immigration management. Additionally, the National Migration Institute (INM), created alongside the CNM, provides technical expertise and studies on international migration, supporting the broader efforts to modernize the country’s immigration policy.