President of the Senate Ramón Alburquerque joined the generality of Dominicans that have rejected the OAS petition that the DR nationalize illegal Haitians that are living in the DR. He said the DR cannot be burdened with a nation that has almost the same number of inhabitants and has many more problems than the DR. "We do not accept that the image of the DR be damaged for gratis," he said. He said he stands with President Leonel Fernández on the issue. While President Leonel Fernández has lobbied for Haiti in international forums, such as the United Nations, to tell by the OAS report, the response of the international community has been to expect that the DR, by continuing to accept thousands of indigent Haitians, carry the burden of Haitian poverty. The DR’s position is that there are alternative ways to resolve the Haitian problem and urges the international community to focus on these.
