“Existing on the Other Side of the Law?” The Mechanisms and Impact of <i>Antihaitianismo</i> on Citizenship in the Dominican Republic

This paper examines the phenomenon of antihaitianismo and its dangers in the Dominican Republic by exploring how racial discrimination is institutionalized through legal and extralegal frameworks, leading to the denationalization of Dominicans of Haitian descent. By analyzing recent legal reforms and state actions, this paper reveals how antihaitianismo operates as a mechanism of exclusion, creating a racialized category of noncitizenship. The study highlights the duality of law, showing how extralegal measures are used to perpetuate racial hierarchies and deny basic rights to the Haitian-descended Dominican population. Through a critical review of citizenship laws and policies across all three branches of government, spanning the 20th and 21st centuries, this paper demonstrates how extralegality has been stretched to its limits and used to profoundly discriminate against the Dominico-Haitian community, leading to statelessness for families and individuals as well as consequent mass deportations. The paper aims to contribute to the growing understanding about extralegal machinations and their ability to create and foster discrimination and harm for distinct communities, while maintaining the status quo for everyone else.