1,177,813 people have been deported between 2016 and 2025
SANTO DOMINGO.- The Director General of Migration stated that Haitian immigration remains the country’s greatest challenge, and that the Dominican Republic has a legitimate obligation to protect its borders by adopting measures such as strengthening immigration control, improving legislation on the matter, and encouraging nationals to enter the productive sectors.
Vice Admiral Luis Rafael Lee Ballester, ARD, explained that the situation in the neighboring country is causing influxes of people into the country, “imposing increasing pressures on education, health, and informal employment,” and therefore “we must defend the national interest, respecting people’s rights and human dignity.”
The senior military officer and official expressed his views in a lecture entitled “The Migration Reality of the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti,” delivered at the forum on migration organized by the Central American Parliament and the Senate’s Foreign Relations and Migration Committee. The event took place in the auditorium of the Upper House of the National Congress.
The head of the DGM outlined the history of the two nations that make up the island of Hispaniola and noted that there is a profound asymmetry in the social, political, economic, and security order between the two countries, which has driven the massive illegal migration of Haitians to the Dominican Republic, posing “critical challenges for migration governance, national security, and regional stability.”
“Illegal immigration results in significant pressure on the public health system, increased presence in the prison system, risks of disrupting local culture, overburdening the education system, unplanned settlement growth, political and ideological tension, increased demand for public services, a perceived demographic imbalance, and a social burden on borders and cities,” explained Lee Ballester.
DEPORTATIONS
The head of the DGM said that the immigration of Haitians in an irregular situation has been continuous and progressive, a result of the development and sustained economic growth of the Dominican Republic and the security crisis and lack of institutionality in the neighboring nation.
He presented statistical figures according to which the DGM, as a response from the Dominican State to the influx of undocumented immigrants, has deported 1,177,813 foreigners in irregular migratory status from 2016 to date, of which 114,884 correspond to this year 2025, through actions executed within the legal framework and in which respect for human rights and the dignity of individuals prevails.
Lee Ballester also stated that the DGM works in inter-institutional coordination with security, justice, and health agencies, thereby strengthening immigration control, combating human trafficking, and combating the activities of transnational organized crime.
Among these coordination efforts, he highlighted the alliances with the country’s municipalities and municipal districts, the integration of information systems, and cooperation with organizations such as Interpol, UNODC, CICTE, SICA, and other allied nations.
He clarified, however, that not all Haitian citizens living in the Dominican Republic are in an irregular immigration status. “Within the framework of the PNRE-2014 (National Plan for the Regularization of Foreigners, 2014), 206,073 Haitian nationals requested regularization of their status and maintain their residence and work permits issued by the General Directorate of Immigration, in accordance with current regulations,” he said.
Communications Directorate