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Stop the Illegal Deportation and Persecution of Immigrant Workers!
Help stop
the persecution and the mass deportations!
Protest the first Thursday of every month, 5:30 to 6:30 pm
in front of the Dominican Consulate, Broadway bet. 43-44th Street
In 2005, more than 20,000 people were rounded up by Dominican authorities
and deported from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. Since the start
of 2006, already more than 10,000 people have been deported. Most
of
them
were undocumented
Haitian immigrants. Some were also dark skinned Dominican citizens. A number
of parents and children were brutally separated. Haitian immigrants have
also been beaten, murdered, their houses burned down as an anti-Haitian
frenzy has
been stirred up by ultra-nationalists. Haitians in the DR are being scapegoated
for the failed neo-liberal policies of the Dominican government, which have
caused rising poverty, and to smooth over the adoption of the CAFTA-DR. This “Free
Trade” agreement benefits multi-nationals and big business at the expense
of working people. Big business is pitting Haitians and Dominicans against
each other to better exploit workers on both sides of the border. We say
no to racist discrimination and persecution!
Haiti’s governments have failed to assist the newly arrived deportees
and have allowed the illegal and inhumane expulsions. Haiti’s governments
are also complicit in the pillage of that country’s resources by
foreign powers and Haiti’s elites, which has led to the massive exodus
of Haitians. We say no to social injustice!
Since 1991, 20,000 to 30,000 Haitians have been deported annually from
the DR. There are an estimated 700,000 Haitian immigrants in the Dominican
Republic.
The Dominican government claims that the majority of them are “illegal.” The
Dominican government violates its own constitution by denying Dominican
citizenship to children born of Haitian parentage in the DR. As thousands
of Haitian immigrant
workers are sent back to Haiti every year, thousands more are recruited
across the border to replenish the low-wage labor supply in agriculture
and in construction.
The Dominican and Haitian governments are complicit in this illegal trafficking.
The collusion between big business and the governments of both countries
drives down wages on both sides of the island. Just as in the US, these “illegal” workers
are indispensable to the economy. Their “illegal” status
makes it more convenient to exploit them.
We demand amnesty, legalization of status and the end to the persecution
of undocumented immigrants here in the United States, in the Dominican
Republic and everywhere.
Contact the Dominican Consulate in New York, phone: (212) 768-2480,81,82 & 83.
Fax your protest to the Dominican Consulate:
(212) 768-2677. Tell them you want the same rights for Haitians in the Dominican
Republic
that both Haitian and Dominican immigrants expect in the United
States! Demand amnesty for Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic!
Stop the Expulsions! Stop the Persecutions!
Long Live the Unity Between Dominican and Haitian Workers!
The Grassroots Haiti Solidarity Committee • info@grassrootshaiti.org