LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION supporting House of Representatives Resolution
443 (2013-14), and the work of diverse groups opposing the Dominican
Republic Constitutional Court rendering hundreds of thousands of Domini-
can born persons stateless

WHEREAS, New Yorkers have a long history of diverse activism and advoca-
cy regarding issues of equality and civil rights; and
WHEREAS, In September 2013, the Constitutional Court of the Dominican
Republic issued a ruling that affected all persons born in the Dominican
Republic as far back as 1929, stripping the children of undocumented
migrants, despite their Dominican birth and registration, of Dominican
citizenship, and denationalizing nearly 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian
descent; and
WHEREAS, In May 2014, the Dominican Republic passed Naturalization Law
169-14, which required persons affected by the 2013 Constitutional
Court's decision to be re-recognized as citizens or apply to gain state
recognition based on their birth status and year, all the while setting
unrealistic timetables and overly-burdensome registration requirements
that have had a disproportionate and discriminatory impact on Dominicans
of Haitian descent; and
WHEREAS, Later that same year, as an act of defiance in response to a
ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that deemed the 2013
and 2014 actions of the Dominican Republic to be a clear violation of
its own constitution, the Constitutional Court declared the Dominican
Republic no longer recognized the authority of the Inter-American Court,
which removed one of the few options that all Dominicans, including
Dominicans of Haitian descent, still had to appeal to a higher power for
judicial review on the human rights' impact of the decisions of the
Dominican Republic's government; and
WHEREAS, By the time the deadlines set in the 2014 naturalization law
had run their course, only a few thousand individuals who were eligible
to be re-recognized or gain state recognition actually were able to meet
the law's requirements, rendering tens of thousands of individuals still
unregistered and vulnerable to deportation, discrimination and loss of
livelihood; and
WHEREAS, The Constitutional Court's ruling effectively stripped these
persons of their identity and affiliation with the Dominican Republic,
rendering them stateless, and subjecting them to the risk of deportation
from the country of their birth based solely on their heritage; and
WHEREAS, The Constitutional Court's ruling interpreting the Dominican
Constitution to retroactively convey citizenship on the basis of
parents' immigration status, instead of on the basis of birth in the
territory of the Dominican Republic, is a violation of international law
and has opened the door for legally justified and institutionalized
discrimination; and
WHEREAS, Both rulings of the Constitutional Court and Law 169-14 have
further separated Dominicans of Haitian descent from the larger Domini-
can community, allowing them to be more easily targeted by those perpe-
trating acts of discrimination and violence; and
WHEREAS, In the absence of any due process protections, the recent
deportations and the continued threat of deportations faced by Domini-
cans of Haitian descent, with no family or social networks in Haiti from
which they can draw support, further underscores the precarious condi-
tions to which Dominicans of Haitian descent are subjected; and
WHEREAS, Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of
which the Dominican Republic and the United States are signatories,
guarantees all people the right to nationality and states that, "No one

shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to
change his nationality"; and
WHEREAS, Congressman Gregory W. Meeks sponsored Resolution HR 443,
which resolves that it is the United States' policy to promote a right
to nationality without arbitrary deprivation by any state, as artic-
ulated in Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the
Resolution also calls upon the United States Ambassador to the Organiza-
tion of American States (OAS) to pursue a multilateral approach to
promptly address the potential crisis in the Dominican Republic that may
render hundreds of Dominican born persons stateless; and
WHEREAS, Civil rights, human rights, academic, legal, political, and
dozens of other groups across New York State, including the United
States National Bar Association, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice
and Human Rights, 1199 Service Employees International Union (1199
SEIU), Amnesty International (AL), Haitian American Lawyers Association
of New York (HALANY), Coalition of Dominicans Against Racism (CDAR), We
Are All Dominicans (WAAD), Haitian American Caucus (HAC), Haitian Ameri-
can Association for Political Action-PAC (HAAPA-PAC), Haitian Round
Table (HRT), HABNET Chamber of Commerce, Haitian American Nurses Associ-
ation of Greater New York (HANA-NY), Friends of Haiti 2010, Make the
Road, Border of Lights, Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant
Rights, and Ahora/NOW are calling for immediate action by the Dominican
government to reverse the effects of the Constitutional Tribunal rulings
and Law 169-14; and
WHEREAS, New York State, a home to hundreds of thousands of Haitians
and Dominicans, welcomes people from all places and supports the
universal application of civil and human rights, whose citizens have a
true stake in the actions of the Dominican Republic's government; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
express its concern and outrage over the rulings of the Constitutional
Court of the Dominican Republic and the poor implementation of Law 169-
14, and the increasing violence against those of Haitian descent, and as
such, supporting House of Representatives Resolution 443 (2013-14),
sponsored by Congressman Gregory W. Meeks, opposing the decision of the
Dominican Republic Constitutional Court that places hundreds of thou-
sands of Dominican born persons at risk of statelessness; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That the Assembly of the State of New York was heartened to
learn of the recent lower court decision issued by the Supreme Adminis-
.SO DOC A R376 RESO TEXT 2015
trative Tribunal in January of 2015, directing the Central Electoral
Board to issue birth certificates and identity cards to 158 Dominicans
of Haitian descent pursuant to Law 169-14, and encourages all the judi-
cial and administrative branches of the government to continue to comply
with the law's obligations, and that all procedural barriers to the
implementation of Law 169-14 be removed, the deadlines extended, and to
take any further actions necessary to mitigate the effects of the
Constitutional Tribunal's rulings; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the
United Nations, the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network
for delivery to governmental representatives of the Dominican Republic
in May 2015, and the aforementioned stakeholders from New York State.