While the numbers of Dominican beggars on city streets are significantly low, Santiago and Santo Domingo are witnessing a surge in Haitian beggars. Haitian beggars are primarily women with small children in arms, or the little children themselves. The Listín Diario interviewed a Marie Pierre Baisson in Santiago who said that she couldn’t be bothered or deported by the authorities. In her opinion, she is legal here. She paid RD$800 to be transported from Fort Liberte to Dajabón, then to Navarette. "I’m not one of those who came in by the hills," she explained. "I paid to come, I owe no one anything," she said. In her eyes, since she paid, she is legal. Baisson like most of Haitians that come to the DR has no identification papers on her. She says that she has no plans to return to Haiti and that there is a man and two women that direct an organization that will fight for her rights and that is assisting her. She told the Listín Diario that they are guiding her to stand by the story that her children were born here and that they should be recognized as Dominicans. "There are many Haitians with their children born in Haiti that have moved to Gurabo and Navarrete and have gotten their birth certificates, why can’t we do the same," she said. The reporter watched as a lady driving past in a Mercedes Benz felt sorry for the women with all her children and handed her a RD$100 bill. "How can I leave this country, I just came, but we will die in Santiago, this is where God is," said the Haitian newcomer.
