President Luis Abinader said that US Secretary of State will be in the Dominican Republic on 5 February 2025, spending the evening and leaving the next day. “That is enough time to discuss the Haitian issue,” the President said during the press conference La Semanal on 27 January 2025.
Responding during the press conference to a question on rising crime by undocumented Haitians in the Dominican Republic, the President said that a major status regularization program has not been undertaken because it requires collaboration from the Haitian government that needs to issue paperwork to its citizens. “The situation with Haiti is particular. To regularize there would have to operate a normal government and that does not exist in Haiti,” said the President.
He said the Dominican police is being very effective in dealing with cases of crime. He mentioned the recent murders case in Pedernales is under investigation and a Haitian gang that was a scourge in Villa Mella was dismantled. He said the homicide rate had reduced to 9.7 per 100,000 inhabitants for 2024, a record low. In January a 9.3 per 100,000 inhabitants homicide rate was reported.
The President said locals should heed the recommendations of the Police and not hire any person who does not have legal identification. The problem has been that persons from Haiti without identification commit crimes and then flee back to Haiti to avoid consequences.
Abinader said that the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be making a stopover in Santo Domingo, arriving in the evening of 5 February and departing on 6 February. “That is sufficient time to discuss the Haitian issue,” said the President.
El Dia reported that the Dominican authorities are optimistic the country will gain more with the new US administration. The president of the Senate, Ricardo de los Santos confirmed Haiti will be a key topic of the discussions with Rubio. He said the Dominican migration policy remains the same with the acceptance of deported Dominicans from the United States. He said there are coincidences in the thinking on dealing with irregular migrants. For decades the DR has accepted Dominicans deported from the United States.
Dominicans living abroad with irregular status have been affected by the stepped-up pace of deportations now under the Trump administration.
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El Dia
DR1 News
La Semanal YouTube 48:35
28 January 2025