Dominican Republic can’t deal

by Dominican Today

Dominican Immigration Agency director Carlos Amarante today said the entity has neither enough funds nor logistics to effectively deal with the large number of Haitians who reside illegally in the country and requested a budget increase.

He said Congress must pay attention to the situation and should raise next year’s budget for Immigration.

The official, arguing for increased repatriations of undocumented Haitians, said the number of those foreigners who are detained and returned to their country is low. "They are small repatriations within Immigration’s possibilities, always conducted in the urban centers of the National District, Santo Domingo province and Santiago."

Amarante said the Haitians detained had been wandering about or begigng in street corners.

In the last few weeks, Immigration inspectors together Police agents have detained hundreds of Haitians who reside illegally in Santiago and other populations of the Cibao region, who’ve been repatriated across the border at Dajabón, though their numbers in construction sites and farms have increased lately.