In American Waters

While the State Department decries the alleged discrimination against Haitian illegal immigrants and their descendants, the Pentagon, under the leadership of the head of the Southern Command, is emphasizing its collaboration with the Dominican Republic to stem the flow of illegal immigrants from that country into the United States, indicating that everything will always be seen according to the interests and convenience of Washington.

Days before General John F. Kelly expressed alarm before the House Armed Services Committee about the increased traffic of Haitians into U.S. territory, the State Department issued a report condemning the Dominican government for violating the rights of the Haitian immigrant community.

This report was prepared so that the U.S. Congress could provide or withhold certain economic and technical assistance packages to the Dominican Republic based on its contents, indicating that — besides its vile content — the report represents a crude way of repressing a nation that is said to be sovereign.

None other than the head of the Southern Command himself – one of the most celebrated military officers, with four combat expeditions – said that the Dominican Navy has prevented more than 2,000 Haitians from crossing the Mona Passage toward Puerto Rico.

This high-ranking U.S. official admits that the flow of illegal Haitian immigration to Puerto Rico exceeds the logistical and economic capacity of Dominican authorities, and he identifies the Dominican Republic as “an important partner in the containment of migration flows.”

The United States criticizes and censures the Dominican prerogative to curb illegal immigration from Haiti, but it commends the efforts of the Dominican government to prevent most of these illegal immigrants from leaving Haiti and heading east toward Puerto Rico. Here is an example of a double standard.

According to statistics provided, there has been a 44-fold increase in Haitian immigration via the Mona Passage, a situation that poses greater problems for the United States, because part of the illegal immigration flow from Haiti is now headed for U.S. territory.

Uncle Sam is censuring the Dominican government for exercising its right to legislate on immigration and nationality, but he is expecting Dominican authorities to invest logistical and economic resources to prevent the boundless flow of Haitian immigration from setting course in “yolas”* toward the land of the American dream. Double standard.

*Editor’s note: “Yola” is the name of the vessel used by people to cross geopolitical borders at sea.