The government of the Dominican Republic is pushing back against a U.S. embassy warning to dark-skinned American tourists that stepped-up enforcement against Haitian migrants in the Caribbean nation could lead to their being racially profiled or detained.
Local media, the U.S. embassy in Santo Domingo said, is reporting widespread operations by Dominican migration officials aimed at detaining those whom they believe to be undocumented migrants, especially people of Haitian descent.
“These actions may lead to increased interaction with Dominican authorities, especially for darker-skinned U.S. citizens and U.S. citizens of African descent,” the embassy said. “There are reports that detainees are kept in overcrowded detention centers, without the ability to challenge their detention, and without access to food or restroom facilities, sometimes for days at a time, before being released or deported to Haiti.”
