The Dominican Republic’s opposition on Wednesday sharply criticized a newly announced memorandum of understanding with the United States that would have the Caribbean nation receive some “third-country” deportees temporarily, a step opponents said lacks transparency and infringes on national sovereignty.
The memorandum, described by the Dominican Foreign Ministry as non-binding, was announced Tuesday as a way for the country to accept the temporary entry of a limited number of third-country nationals without criminal records before they return to their home countries, according to the Associated Press report. Opposition figures argued that the public information provided so far was insufficient to understand the scope of the arrangement.
Manolo Pichardo, of the opposition Fuerza del Pueblo party, told The Associated Press that he viewed the agreement as an erosion of Dominican control over its interests. “This agreement represents a surrender of our national sovereignty,” Pichardo said, adding that it “subordinates Dominican interests to the geopolitical priorities of major Western powers and their strategic allies.”
The concerns extended beyond Pichardo. Former Dominican Foreign Minister Andrés Navarro questioned what he described as a lack of transparency around the memorandum and called for the government to release it in its entirety, saying the public should be able to understand its full scope. “What has been published says practically nothing,” Navarro said Tuesday, while also indicating he supports maintaining and strengthening relations with the United States.
The Dominican Foreign Ministry defended the agreement and said it would be carried out within Dominican legal limits. In its statement, the ministry said the memorandum “will be carried out in accordance with national law and the country’s international obligations, without altering Dominican immigration policy or current border control and management procedures.”
The ministry also said the arrangement would not cover certain groups. It said the agreement does not apply to children or to nationals from neighboring Haiti, the country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.
U.S. Ambassador Leah Campos said on Instagram that the agreement would allow the United States to remove and repatriate third-country nationals more quickly while respecting Dominican law, sovereignty, and existing border procedures. She also said the U.S. was collaborating with the Dominican Republic to combat transnational crime and drug trafficking, fight terrorism, and promote stability and prosperity in the region.
The memorandum is the latest in a series of similar arrangements between the Trump administration and some countries in Latin America and Africa that have faced criticism. The third-country deportations, the Associated Press report said, are part of a wider U.S. immigration crackdown that includes deporting migrants to places other than their own.