On Monday, 30 September 2024, Minister of the Presidency José Ignacio Paliza swore in Vice Admiral Luis Rafael Lee Ballester as the new director general of Migration, following his appointment by President Luis Abinader by Decree 560-24.
During the ceremony, Paliza urged Lee Ballester to uphold Migration Law 285-04 and its application regulations in Decree 631-11, while respecting human rights and adhering to international agreements.
Outgoing Director Venancio Alcántara expressed gratitude to President Abinader for the opportunity to lead this critical national security institution, which remains under constant scrutiny from international bodies. Under Alcántara’s leadership, staff salaries improved significantly, new interdiction centers were established, and services were streamlined to create a more humane, secure, and orderly migration process, the Migration Agency reported.
Lee Ballester brings to the position more than 42 years of experience in the Navy and various roles in the Armed Forces. At the time of his appointment, he was the director of the Ministry of Defense intelligence division, the C5i.
Speaking when sworn in, Lee Ballester emphasized his commitment to working within the framework of the Constitution and Migration Law, collaborating with military and police institutions, the Public Ministry, and ensuring transparency, as championed by President Abinader. “The task ahead requires significant effort from various institutions,” he stated.
On 1 October 2024, Lee Ballester met with his staff to set priorities. He said he would work to defend Dominican sovereignty and nationality. He also spoke of the priority of cracking down on Migration officials who have taken bribes from undocumented people.
He outlined plans to establish new regulations and protocols for detaining undocumented migrants, emphasizing the need for proportional use of force while firmly stating that he would not tolerate any “excesses” against foreign nationals.
The vice admiral stressed the importance of instilling respect within society through the actions of migration agents, highlighting that their work is under international scrutiny. He urged agents to conduct their operations with firmness while adhering strictly to legal standards and human rights.
Lee Ballester also called on interdiction agents to be vigilant in maintaining the institution’s image during the apprehension of undocumented migrants, insisting that they must not allow their colleagues to stray from the ethical norms of the agency.
During the meeting, he listened to the concerns of immigration control personnel and pledged to review operational capacities, collection centers, response times, vehicle conditions, and any measures that would enhance both the quality and efficiency of immigration interdiction operations.
Migration is a contentious issue for the Dominican Republic that shares an almost 400 km land border with Haiti, a country repeatedly described as a failed state. Sharing a border with the poorest country in the Americas, a country racked by a lack of local leadership, and now under the control of 300 gangs, has meant the Dominican Republic has had to dedicate billions to border security. It means taxpayers have had to pay for providing social services to the hundreds of thousands of Haitians who commute to the country or have located here seeking the jobs they do not find in their country.
One of the main issues confronting this population is the lack of identity. Over the years, the Haitian governments have been lax in identifying the population, siding with international organizations that pressure for the undocumented migrants to obtain Dominican nationality and residence.
On Tuesday, 1 October 2024, Wilson Gómez Ramírez, president of the Duarte Institute (ID), denounced rising pressures from four Haitian-interest organizations, backed by international bodies, to push the Dominican government to create a “privileged parallel legalization regime” for Haitians that would circumvent the Migration Law 285-04.
Gómez Ramírez explained that this proposal was outlined in a communication sent on 18 September 2024 to the head of the UNHCR mission, Pablo Vizcaíno, and signed by the Integral Ethnic Foundation La Fei, the National Migration Table, the Integral Well-being Without Borders Organization, and the National Table for Migrations and Refugees of the Dominican Republic. As reported the proposal would grant permanent residency to undocumented Haitian children based on the foreign birth certificates issued in the Dominican Republic. Hundreds of thousands of children of Haitian descent are born in the Dominican Republic given the practical inexistence of hospitals in Haiti. In the Dominican Republic they receive free services at Dominican public hospitals.
During a meeting at the Instituto Duartiano’s headquarters in the Colonial City, the president of the entity in charge of spreading the legacy of country founding father Juan Pablo Duarte, labeled the proposal as an “unacceptable interference” in the country’s internal affairs.
On Monday, 30 September 2024, Anibal de Castro, president of the board of Diario Libre, wrote an editorial for Diario Libre calling it imprudent that the Dominican government violate its laws to further accommodate the Haitian failed state.
“In the current immigration debate, a fundamental question challenges the core principles of the rule of law: should nationality be granted to those who enter a country illegally? The maxim ex iniuria ius non oritur, meaning that illegality does not generate rights, provides a clear response.
“Granting nationality to those who violate immigration laws would legitimize actions contrary to established regulations, sending a contradictory and dangerous message. Essentially, it would reward a breach of sovereignty and legal order. Borders are not merely lines on a map, regardless of how porous or vague they may be,” he wrote.
De Castro, who has been the Dominican ambassador to the United States, European Union and the United Kingdom concluded the editorial stating: “The granting of nationality must be a transparent process aligned with the Constitution. Suggesting that an illegal act can form the basis for legitimate rights is not only an injustice to those who have followed the legal path but also a violation of the principle of equity that underpins any rule of law.”
Read more:
Migration Agency
Migration Law 285-04 and its Rules Decree 631-11
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Noticias SIN
Diario Libre
N Digital
Listin Diario
Hoy
DR1 News
2 October 2024