From The Charlotte Post

Dominicans, Haitians debate deportation

Published Thursday, July 30, 2015 9:14 am
by Amanda D. Raymond, For The Charlotte Post

The Dominican Republic’s threat to deportation undocumented persons, many of whom are Haitians is reverberating in Charlotte.

Last month, the deadline passed for undocumented persons to submit an application for citizenship in the Dominican Republic. In 2013, the government stripped citizenship from everyone born in the country whose parents were in the country illegally. The ruling applies to anyone born after 1929 that does not have at least one Dominican parent, according to Reuters.

According to the United Nations, there are an estimated 200,000 undocumented individuals in the Dominican Republic. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said they are worried that deporting a high number of those undocumented people could lead to a refugee situation in Haiti.

Maireni Martinez, a Dominican American who moved to the United States when she was 5, said the Haitian government may be to blame.

“I personally think that (the Dominican government is) being fair, but the problem is that it’s a system overload of people and not all of them can get their papers together because the Haitian government is actually not helping them,” she said.

In order to complete the naturalization process, documents such as an official copy of a birth certificate, a copy of a current passport and a letter of good conduct from a police department from the home country are required, according to the Dominican Republic page website.

Pastor Yvrose August, a Haitian American who has been in the U.S. for 20 years, said the Haitian government doesn’t stand up for its citizens.

“I feel like as an American now, wherever I go if I have any trouble I can call for help and they will show up. They will do something about it. There is no such thing like that in Haiti,” she said.

Gus August, Yvrose’s husband and also a Haitian American, said he doesn’t blame the Dominicans.

“It’s just that they feel that Haitians are coming to rob them of their resources. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

Andres Aracena, an American-born Dominican and part-owner of Yvelisse Salon in Charlotte, doesn’t think Haitians are being treated fairly. He said Dominican-born Haitians should have the same rights as Dominicans.

“I think every Haitian living in the DR should get the opportunity to live like everybody else as long as they work and do what they’re supposed to,” he said.

Aracena compared the situation in the Caribbean to Mexican immigration issues in the U.S. Similar to many Mexicans in America, Haitians in the Dominican Republic do the labor Dominicans do not want to do, like cutting sugar cane and building resorts.

Aracena said the Dominican Republic would only be hurting their own economy by deporting Haitians.

“(The Dominican Republic’s) a country that has no other option but to continue growing, and they’re going to need lots of hands, lots of workers to help with that growth. And throughout history, Haitians have definitely contributed to that,” he said.

Gus August said the poor, including many Haitians, are taken advantage of in the Dominican Republic.

“They are treated as modern-day slaves in the Dominican Republic. They do the dirty work for the Dominicans,” he said.

“On one side they don’t like Haitians, but Haitians help them keep their economy going,” Yvrose August said.

Though some blame racism, Martinez said the Dominican Republic functions more on a class basis.

“In the Dominican Republic people are not racist. They just care about whether you have money or not,” she said.

Aracena agrees.

“Lots of times I met Haitians who speak Spanish and I treated them like a normal Dominican and they treated everybody else like they were family,” he said.

According to an International Business Times article, deportations are scheduled to begin Aug. 1.

Aracena said he thinks something good will happen in the end.

“Sometimes these situations seem pretty bad now, but sometimes things get worse before they get better. So maybe the situation might create something written for Haitians to be able to come in freely to the DR of they want to work and be citizens.”

For more on this story go to: http://www.thecharlottepost.com/news/2015/07/30/local/caribbean-immigration-spills-to-u.s./