PROVIDENCE, R.I. — After one member stated there are few things of greater value than citizenship, the City Council voted to denounce a court decision in the Dominican Republic that has suddenly left thousands of its residents unwelcome in the country of their birth.
A Constitutional Court ruling in September strips citizenship from people born to Haitian immigrants — and made it retroactive to 1929.
Human rights groups have said an estimated 200,000 people will enter a world of statelessness if this decision stands. The government insists that only about 24,000 will be affected, according to an Associated Press report.
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“There are few things that we value more than our nationalism, than our citizenship and our ability to participate in our democracy and the rights that are protected by our government because we are citizens of that state,” Councilman Luis Aponte told the council Thursday night.
In a series of rhetorical questions, he asked the council if they could imagine waking up tomorrow, and “because of an arbitrary ruling,” you lost your rights as an American citizen?
Said Aponte, “It is moments like this that the international nations step up and say this is wrong.”
Afterward, the council unanimously passed a resolution that asks Dominican Republic officials to update their Constitution, remove this law, and grant citizenship to all immigrants born in the country. Councilwoman Sabina Matos and Aponte were the initial sponsors.
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“Stateless people cannot vote or participate in government, are blocked from obtaining employment, and are frequently denied basic human rights such as access to education and health services,” the resolution reads.
Matos said the court decision is the latest dispute in long-standing Haitian-Dominican conflicts. The two nations, which share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, have been feuding since colonial times.
The Dominican Republic, originally known as Santo Domingo, was ruled first by Spain and then by Haiti. It gained its independence on Feb. 27, 1844.
Many Haitians continue to work and migrate to the more prosperous Dominican Republic, and that trend increased after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. International news stories say Dominicans of Haitian descent have reported complaints of discrimination against them by the Dominican majority population. Voting and trade strife has been written about, as well as violence between the two groups.
“I know firsthand how immigrants are normally blamed for whatever is going on …,” Matos said. “It is happening to us Latinos here in the [United States], and it is happening to the Haitians living in the Dominican Republic.”
The resolution says that because Providence has a “vibrant and politically active Dominican community,” the city is “uniquely positioned to positively affect this situation created by this egregious ruling.”
Census figures from 2012 show Rhode Island has 138,550 Latinos, more than 37,000 of whom are from the Dominican Republic or have Dominican roots. They include state Sen. Juan Pichardo, state Rep. Grace Diaz, Mayor Angel Taveras and Providence council members Matos, Carmen Castillo and Davian Sanchez. Aponte is Puerto Rican.
Copies of the resolution will be sent to the Dominican ambassador to the United States and to the country’s president, Danilo Medina.
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