Dominican Republic Is Deporting Haitians In Trucks With Built-in Cages In Immigration Crackdown

Trucks resembling livestock carriers fill the Elías Piña border crossing between the Dominican Republic and Haiti every day. But rather than cattle, the trucks are transporting Haitians, including pregnant women, unaccompanied children, and individuals with no ties to the country. Since October, more than 71,000 Haitians have been deported from the neighboring country under a strict immigration policy that seeks to expel up to 10,000 people every week.

For Haitians fleeing gang violence, economic instability, and political collapse, the Dominican Republic had been a fragile refuge given the country's historical hostility. But deportees now also recount harrowing raids and alleged abuses, as reported by the New York Times.

Dominican President Luis Abinader has defended the policy, citing increasing pressure on public services. Roberto Álvarez, the Dominican foreign minister, said births to Haitian mothers in public hospitals surged to 40% of all deliveries in October, compared to 24% in 2019.

About 147,000 Haitian children are enrolled in Dominican schools, costing the nation an estimated $430 million annually, according to Minister Álvarez. He added that the international community has left the Dominican Republic to handle Haiti's spiraling crisis alone.

Haiti remains in turmoil, with gang violence having claimed over 12,000 lives and displacing nearly 800,000 people since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Close to 200 people were killed last weekend in a gang-led massacre in Port-au-Prince, according to the United Nations, and killings so far this year have already topped 5,000.

While Dominican authorities insist the measures respect human rights, deportees and activists describe racial profiling, verbal harassment, and violence. One 17-year-old deportee claimed he was shot in the leg by immigration officers. "Why are all these massive abuses taking place?" asked Laura d'Elsa of the International Organization for Migration, adding that many deportees arrive injured.

Critics link the crackdown to the island's fraught history. Haiti's former foreign minister Dominique Dupuy said deportations target individuals "by the simple fact that they had Black skin," claiming some were not even Haitian.