Senate in the Dominican Republic Unanimously Passes Bill For Migrants’ Children (May 22, 2014) [1]
On May 22, 2014, the Senate in the Dominican Republic unanimously passed a bill granting citizenship to Dominican-born children of immigrants. According to a news article [3], President Danilo Medina proposed the bill due to international outcry over a September 2013 ruling [4] (Spanish language only) by the Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic that denied citizenship to Dominicans of Haitian descent. According to a news article [5], “[t]hose born between 1929 and 1997 with proper documentation will be granted full citizenship; those born between 1997 and 2010 will need to apply for citizenship; and those born 2010 or later, or those who have no legal documents, will be given the opportunity to apply for naturalization after 10 years.” Given that the lower house has already approved the bill, the law will enter into force when the bill is officially published.