How the United States Shaped the Dominican Republic’s Immigration Enforcement Machine

Journalist Carlos Berríos Polanco speaks with James about how the Dominican Republic’s border and immigration enforcement was shaped by the United States.

Sources:

Help Bring Ezra Home and Seek the Truth

(https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bring-ezra-home-seek-the-truth)

More than a Massacre; Racial Violence and Citizenship in the Haitian-Dominican

Borderlands by Sabine Cadeu

Empire of Borders by Todd Miller

Border Patrol Nation by Todd Miller

From tierra de nadie to terre brulée – From Borderland to Border in Haiti and the Dominican Republic by Sabine Cadeu

(https://www.histecon.magd.cam.ac.uk/barriers/July2022_papers/SabineCadeauPaper.pdf)

Haitians, Magic, and Money: Raza and Society in the Haitian-Dominican Borderlands, 1900 to 1937 by Lauren Derby (https://www.jstor.org/stable/179294)

Making the Dominican Republic Great Again? by Lorgia García-Peña

(https://nacla.org/making-dominican-republic-great-again/)

Marines in the Dominican Republic 1916-1924

(https://www.marines.mil/portals/1/Publications/Marines%20in%20the%20Dominican%20Republic%20PCN%2019000412600_1.pdf)

US warns its ‘darker-skinned’ citizens of Dominican Republic’s migrant crackdown by Richard Luscombe

(https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/22/us-warns-darker-skinned-citizens-crackdown-dominican-republic)

Latinobarómetro 2024 Resultados por sexo y edad Informe de estudio #LAT-2024 v1

(https://www.latinobarometro.org/latinobarometro-2024#LAT-2024-selected-country-header)

Ten Years After a Fateful Court Decision, the Dominican Republic Still Has a Statelessness Problem by Kevin Appleby

(https://cmsny.org/dr-statelessness-problem-appleby-102323/)

Addressing the Next Displacement Crisis in the Making in the Americas by Valerie Lacarte (https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/haiti-next-displacement-crisis-americas)

‘They grabbed us like dogs’: deportation quotas tear Haitian migrants’ lives apart by Shandra Back

(https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/sep/07/they-grabbed-us-like-dogs-deportation-quotas-tear-haitian-migrants-lives-apart)

Federal Agents Investigate Sugar Exporter Over Allegations of Forced Labor

(https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/10/central-romana-homeland-security-sugar/)

“They Just Came and Started Breaking Houses”

(https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/12/central-romana-sugar-hoyo-de-puerco-demolished/)

Despite US Import Ban, Sugar Cane Cutters Still Face Abuse in Dominican Republic

(https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/despite-us-import-ban-sugar-cane-cutters-still-face-abuse-in-dominican-republic/)

10 years fighting for nationality in the Dominican Republic

(https://www.institutesi.org/news/10-year-anniversary-of-dr-court-ruling-stripping-nationality)

LEA Training Schedule 2024

(https://sansalvador.ilea.state.gov/training-schedule?c=fr-FR)

International students graduate from elite federal law enforcement program

(https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/international-students-graduate-elite-federal-law-enforcement-program)

Dominican Republic students graduate from elite US law enforcement program

(https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/dominican-republic-students-graduate-elite-us-law-enforcement-program)

El misterio de Ellen Frances Hulett | El Informe con Alicia Ortega

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKIg2np081M)

How Far Will the Dominican Republic Go in Deporting Haitians? by Marius Loiseau

(https://inkstickmedia.com/how-far-will-the-dominican-republic-go-in-deporting-haitians/)

Fearing Deportation, Mothers Give Birth in Shadows by Hogla Enecia Pérez and Luis Ferré-Sadurní

(https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/26/world/americas/dominican-republic-haiti-hospital-deportations.html)

Dominican Republic and Haiti at the Crossroads of the Massacre River by Simón Rodríguez (https://nacla.org/dominican-republic-and-haiti-crossroads-massacre-river/)

US team reveals weaknesses at the Dominican-Haiti border

(https://web.archive.org/web/20110526044642/https://dominicantoday.com/dr/local/2006/8/7/16173/US-team-reveals-weaknesses-at-the-Dominican-Haiti-border)

Dominican Republic begins building border wall with Haiti

(https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/dominican-republic-begins-building-border-wall-with-haiti-2022-02-20/)

A 101-Mile Wall Goes Up to Block Haitians Pouring Over Border by Danielle Balbi

(https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-09-28/big-take-why-the-dominican-republic-is-building-a-border-wall-between-haiti?embedded-checkout=true#xj4y7vzkg)

“A Veil of Legality” by Amelia Hintzen

(https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/pii/S1382237316000234)

Dominican border wall threatens environment, mangroves by Esteban ROJAS

(https://phys.org/news/2023-03-dominican-border-wall-threatens-environment.html)

Dominican Republic deports pregnant women in ‘inhumane’ migrant crackdown

(https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/apr/29/pregnant-women-deported-dominican-republic-migration-crackdown-haiti)

La muerte de Ellen Frances Hulett se debió a infartos agudos al miocardio, confirma autopsia

(https://noticiassin.com/la-muerte-de-ellen-frances-hulett-se-debio-a-infartos-agudos-al-miocardio-confirma-autopsia/)

La muerte de la estadounidense Ellen Hulett: una cadena de preguntas sin respuestas by Ana A, Elina M (https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/sucesos/2025/07/03/muerte-de-ellen-hulett-una-cadena-de-preguntas-sin-respuestas/3170413)

Alert: Ongoing Dominican Migration Enforcement

(https://do.usembassy.gov/alert-ongoing-dominican-migration-enforcement/)

87 Aniversario de la Dirección General de Migración

(https://migracion.gob.do/87-aniversario-de-la-direccion-general-de-migracion/)

Haitians displaced by violence face deportation after fleeing to Dominican Republic

(https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/haitians-displaced-by-violence-face-deportation-after-fleeing-to-dominican-republic)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.