Lee Ballester oversees compliance with immigration protocol in hospitals
SANTO DOMINGO.- While the interdiction units of the General Directorate of Immigration carried out operations in the country, the head of the agency, Vice Admiral Luis Rafael Lee Ballester, visited several hospitals yesterday to oversee that the protocol applied to patients with irregular immigration status always complies with medical regulations and that the health or lives of individuals are never put at risk.
Among the hospitals visited were San Lorenzo de Los Mina and the Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia maternity hospital, where the senior military officer spoke with the doctors in charge and reiterated his assurances that, even after discharge, if an illegal foreign patient needs recovery time, the doctors need only indicate this, and the measure will be honored.
Lee Ballester took the opportunity to harangue immigration agents stationed at health centers about the humanitarian treatment that must prevail under all circumstances and that the work of doctors must never be interfered with.
In the interdiction operations carried out by immigration units, 1,122 Haitian nationals in an irregular situation were detained. Of these, 134 were detained in Greater Santo Domingo; 45 in Santiago de los Caballeros; 43 in La Vega; 50 in Mao/Santiago Rodríguez; 116 in the Eastern Zone; 9 in Azua (Los Pilones); 14 in Barahona; 62 in Puerto Plata; and 2 in Montecristi.
In coordination with the DGM (General Directorate of General Administration of General Administration), the Dominican Army arrested 526 illegal aliens in the fight against migration; the Cesfront (Center for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities) apprehended 20; and the National Police apprehended another two individuals. The Ministry of Defense, the Navy, the Air Force, the Ciutrant (City of General Administration …
Another group of 1,041 immigrants were deported through the binational ports of Elías Piña (657), Dajabón (220), Jimaní (106), and Pedernales (58). At these points, they turned themselves in to their country’s immigration authorities. They came from the detention centers for irregular immigrants set up by the DGM in Haina, Benerito, Santiago, and in the border area, where their fingerprints and biometric data were taken.
All immigration control operations are carried out in compliance with President Luis Abinader’s instructions to ensure that the risks that illegal immigration poses to the country’s security, stability, and well-being are decisively and fairly addressed.
The DGM’s activities are also implemented within the framework of Law No. 285-04, which governs the matter, its implementing Regulation No. 631-11, and in accordance with the international standards to which the country is a signatory.
Communications Directorate