The Weight of Angels in the Dominican Republic

The community of Consuelo has been receiving little angels from heaven. I could see their wings and halos and pay attention to them playing in the backyard of a rustic school located in one of the plots the farmers had acquired there with great effort. They are the sons and daughters of Dominican Haitian families which seek to regularize their status as permanent residents in the Dominican Republic. 

Ten years have passed since the country’s Supreme Court ruled that there is no such thing as Dominican citizens by birth. Ruling 168/13 of the Constitutional Court established in 2013 that only people born in Dominican territory to Dominican parents or legal residents are considered nationals. This interpretation was applied retroactively to all people born between 1929 and 2010. That decision deprived hundreds of thousands of people of Haitian descent of Dominican nationality, creating a stateless situation never before seen in the Americas. That is because the door was shut in the Dominican Republic due to the judicial decision. On the other hand, Haiti alleges that those people have never been Haitian citizens since they weren’t registered in the country when they were born. 

As a result of criticism from Human Rights organizations in the country and international organizations, both Haitian and the Dominican government approved a process of regularizing immigration status for this community. Even though it is supposed to be simple and available to this community, the truth is that it has been erratic and lacks transparency. The consequence has been evident: thousands of people reside in the country, with Haitian roots, without documents and are subject to deportation by government authorities. Likewise, Haiti’s poverty and violent situation does not allow these families to move to a country that, paradoxically, they have never known or made their own, despite having their roots there. 

While advocating for the rights of that community, Social Services for Dominican Churches (SSID), one of Global Ministries’ Partners in the Dominican Republic, work to preserve the health and well-being of those angels. In fact, they are not responsible for being born out of bad news in both countries during legal limbo, negligent regularization processes, and massive deportations to the Dominican Haitian border.   Even in times like these, farmers reciprocate God’s gift of children by caring for them, educating them, and safeguarding their health. SSID accompanied them in that endeavor. And, given that they don’t fly anymore, the little angels have to be weighed so that their feeding levels can be attended to in a community way. Personnel trained by the SSID guide their parents and caregivers to maintain adequate levels of feeding, vaccinations, hygiene, overall medical attention, and orientation on parenting issues. In addition, SSID has a community Preschool, where the little divine creatures can learn numbers and letters, to be ready for their subsequent learning process at school.  These angels were good news for their families amid their painful situation in the “bateyes” or plots. Now is a task for SSID, Global Ministries, and the community to procure their blessings on earth and in heaven.