Lawyer Roberto Alvarez writes in El Caribe newspaper today about the myths that continue to appear in the Dominican press regarding the illegal status of Dominicans in the US and the misguided notion that Dominican boat people and deportees are major instigators of crime in the DR. Alvarez is bothered by the whimsical treatment of the statistics. “Emigrants are a source of admiration or disgrace, depending on the topic being covered,” he writes. If the focus is on remittances, which stood at US$2.22 billion in 2003, there is praise, he says, while they are at the same time blamed for crime in the DR (18,138 Dominican criminals were deported from the US in the 10-year period of 1994-2003).
The article is motivated by statements recently made by Armed Forces Minister Sigfrido Pared Perez, who stated on 9 September in the Listin Diario that the deportees are one of the principal causes for the increased rate of crime and assaults in recent months. Alvarez asks whether there is any study that supports this statement and comments on the rampant corruption and impunity in the upper echelons of government. As such, he cites the billion-peso bank frauds of last year and the extra-judicial murders at the hands of the National Police of some 1,286 people.
Furthermore, he deals with the report that illegal Dominicans are responsible for 50% of the remittances sent back home, a statement that appeared in a 4 September article published in Hoy by commentator Fabio Herrera-Minino. Alvarez writes that the Institute of Dominican Studies at CUNY estimates the legal Dominican population in the US at 1,289,000. Migration statistics establish that between 1960 and 2003 some 904,540 Dominicans were granted permanent residency status. He explains that this figure includes residencies granted in the DR and the ones granted to those who adjusted their migration status, primarily those benefited by amnesties.
He emphasizes, however, that it is only necessary to compare the data that proves that from 1981 to 2000, some 3,047,000 Dominicans entered the US with temporary visas. Meanwhile, US Coast Guard statistics show estimated landings between 1997 and 2003 of 9,414, or about 1,344 per year.
If you multiply this average by 20 years, the total that would have landed without being captured by the authorities would be no more than 26,897. “As can be noted, there is no comparison between the figures. We need to be careful in the handling of the figures; more than 100 Dominicans have drowned or disappeared in 2004.”