Carlos Amarante, the director of Migration, said in an interview to Hoy newspaper that there is virtually no border control between Haiti and the DR. Amarante, who spoke in the company of Interior & Police Minister Franklyn Almeyda and National Police Chief Manuel Sanchez Perez, told the newspaper that in real terms, there is no border, there are no resources, nor is the technology adequately sufficient to control the entry of illegal Haitians to the DR. The head of Migration said that on the Dominican side of the frontier there is not enough military presence to supervise the border and prevent illegal crossings. And, he said, the controls in place are very “vulnerable,” meaning they have a price.
Amarante also spoke of the widespread corruption he encountered upon assuming his post. He said that while he has no solid proof, numerous complaints filed by foreigners at their embassies indicate that they paid as much as RD$15,000 to inspectors, in addition to the legal charges, to expedite the formalization of their residency status. He estimated that about 45 cases a day were handled in this manner, which would have produced approximately RD$4 million a month in unofficial profits.
He said he cancelled the Department of Migration ID cards that had been issued to 60 honorary supervisors across the nation and said he had no idea what these ID cards had been used for.
Furthermore, he said that the Migration staff’s wages tend to be low, making them prone to corrupt activity. According to the director, an airport inspector makes RD$5,300 a month in wages, but can make an additional RD$70,000 in one shot for turning a blind eye to a phoney passport.
Amarante said that during the past government, the Migration department acted in complicity with human trafficking gangs. He said that military coordinators and the migration bosses at various airports headed the operations that smuggled people to the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. New game rules have been set, however, and several others have been changed at the airports to give the sign that they are not directing the Migration department.
Amarante also spoke of recycled tourist cards at Migration, an effort that produced about RD$3 million to those who engaged in the practice. The cards were allegedly bought for US$8 and sold to patrons for US$10. Amarante pointed to the military, the Migration staff and the Department of Investigation (DNI) staff at the airports as those responsible for this activity.
“I cannot accuse anyone because I do not have proof, but no one can tell me that this disaster that I found in the “extranjeria” (foreigners’) department could be conducted without the knowledge of the director,” he told the newspaper. “In every public or private institution, the director imposes his style. The friends who directed Migration had very little concern for the institutional levels of training and the internal controls were ineffective.”