The Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) has ruled that the children of illegal residents in the DR are not eligible for Dominican nationality. The court made this ruling in the case of an unconstitutionality recourse presented by groups that seek that Dominican nationality be granted to Haitians born in the Dominican Republic, as reported by Diario Libre. The SCJ quotes the Migration Law that determines that foreigners admitted as non-residents are considered to be in transit for the application of Article 11 of the Constitution. It also bases its decision on The Hague Convention that establishes that each state is entitled to determine who is a national.
According to Listin Diario, children born in the DR to illegal residents or people who are in transit must be declared in the consulates of their countries of origin. The unconstitutionality recourse was presented to the SCJ by the Jesuit Refugee Service, specifically against 12 articles of the Migration Law.
Clave Digital reports that Article 11 of the Dominican Constitution states that “Dominicans are all persons born in the territory of the Republic, with the exception of legitimate children of foreigners residing in the country in diplomatic representation or those who are in transit”. The High Court also considered that Article 37 of the Constitution gives National Congress the right to determine all issues related to migration.
According to El Caribe, the recourse was also presented by the Dominican-Haitian Cultural Center and other human rights organizations. In its sentence, the SCJ noted that the Haitian Constitution categorically expresses that “every individual born in Haiti or in a foreign country, to a Haitian man or woman, is Haitian”.