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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
04/23/2024 12:51 PM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=18687
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House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: July 6, 2015 12:06 PM
From: Representative Jordan A. Harris
To: All House members
Subject: Resolution urging Congress to oppose the forced removal of Haitians and People of Haitian descent from their homes by the Government of the Dominican Republic
 
In the near future, I will be introducing a resolution urging the Congress of the United States to oppose the recent actions of the Dominican Republic towards Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent living in the Dominican Republic.

In September of 2013, the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic issued a ruling that affected all persons born in the Dominican Republic dating back to 1929, stripping the children of undocumented immigrants, despite their Dominican birth and registration, of Dominican citizenship, effectively denationalizing nearly 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent.

Then, in May of 2014, responding to the Constitutional Court’s ruling, the Dominican Republic passed Naturalization Law 169-14, requiring persons affected by the ruling to be re-recognized as citizens or apply to gain state recognition based on their birth status and year.

Today, the Government of the Dominican Republic continues its campaign of “ethnic cleansing” against Dominicans of Haitian descent, with potentially 200,000 people facing the risk of deportation to the border following the looming threat of expulsions. Despite claims to the contrary by DR President Danilo Medina, the initial round-up of communities has already begun, with those believed to be dark-skinned enough to be of Haitian descent being loaded into trucks and driven to the Dominican-Haitian border.

Not only are the actions of the Dominican Republic a clear violation of human rights, they also contribute to a potential humanitarian crisis in Haiti, which is still recovering from the 2010 earthquake.

Please join me in co-sponsoring this resolution to send a message to our elected leaders in Washington that the United States should take a strong stand to oppose the decision of the Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court that places hundreds of thousands of Dominican-born persons at risk of statelessness, violence, and discrimination.

Introduced as HR431