This includes farms, agricultural businesses, construction projects, and related companies that require foreign labor with irregular legal status
SANTO DOMINGO.– The General Directorate of Migration (DGM) announced a new round of inspections of Dominican companies that hire foreign workers, after warning that locations have been identified where Dominicans are building and renting homes despite knowing they are in an irregular situation in the country.
The Director General of Migration, Vice Admiral Luis Rafael Lee Ballester, ARD, reported the deportation of more than 800,000 foreigners in irregular migratory status in the last two years and announced interdiction operations on farms and agricultural businesses to bring to justice those who engage in the hiring of labor outside of what the Law establishes.
The official explained in a press release that locations have been identified where Dominicans are building and renting homes to undocumented foreigners, and that in some cases they are hiring their services knowing that they are in an irregular situation in the country.
He explained that to address these practices, the DGM, as it has done in various businesses, will conduct visits to farms, construction sites, agricultural companies, and other related businesses to identify those responsible, gather evidence to prosecute them, and bring them to justice.
Lee Ballester assured that these actions will be carried out “with a view to reinforcing compliance with current immigration policies, and that these inspections will have the support of the Armed Forces and security agencies, in farms, industries and agricultural projects, to verify the immigration status of foreign workers and ensure that only those who have the documentation issued by the DGM for such purposes are hired.”
The head of the DGM indicated that each operation is carried out through prior intelligence gathering to locate collection centers and transport routes, in order to plan more precise and sustained interventions. He also noted that the border control points of Dajabón and Elías Piña continue to be the places where most of the deportations of foreigners who are returned to their country of origin are carried out.
He noted that to date the DGM has already trained 1,187 Rapid Reaction Agents, an authorized force to which 300 more young people will soon be added, who are receiving specialized training to expand the coverage of migration operations in Greater Santo Domingo and in the eastern region of the country.
Announces arrests
The agency reported the arrest of 3,894 people in irregular migratory status during operations carried out on Friday 9, Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 of October in different provinces of the country.
According to the agency, 1,565 people were arrested on Friday, October 9; another 1,167 on Saturday the 10th; and a total of 1,162 on Sunday the 11th. The provinces with the highest number of arrests were Dajabón, with 647; Santo Domingo, with 530; and Elías Piña, with 433.
According to the report, DGM agents made 1,882 arrests; the Dominican Republic Army handed over 1,009 people to the institution; the National Police 522; the Specialized Corps of Land Border Security 354; and the National Environmental Protection Service 60.
The operations also covered sectors of Greater Santo Domingo and localities in Santiago where 264 were arrested, in La Vega, 148 in Espaillat 101, Monseñor Nouel 37, Hermanas Mirabal 26, La Romana 18, San Pedro de Macorís 35, Hato Mayor 12, Pedernales 253, Independencia 287, Montecristi 73, Barahona 89, Bahoruco 66, Azua 55, San José de Ocoa 21, Valverde 297, Santiago Rodríguez 27, María Trinidad Sánchez 84 and Samaná 41, among other demarcations.
The operations encompassed neighborhoods, communities, and surrounding areas, according to the planning of the teams deployed in each jurisdiction. Additionally, over the weekend, 2,980 undocumented migrants were deported through the four border checkpoints where they were processed and subsequently returned to their countries of origin.
The DGM reiterated that it maintains immigration interdiction operations in all provinces of the country, emphasizing strategic points in compliance with the General Migration Law 285-04.
