{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cherfilus-mccormick.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-cherfilus-mccormick-and-over-dozen-lawmakers-urge-state", "Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick and Over a Dozen Lawmakers Urge State Department to Investigate Mass Deportations of Haitian Migrants and Discriminatory, Anti-Black Migration Enforcement in the Dominican Republic", "2022-12-01", "2022", "2022-12", "Democrat", "House", "FL", "Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick", "C001127", "cherfilus-mccormick.house.gov", "cherfilus-mccormick", "https://cherfilus-mccormick.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Florida) led a letter of more than a dozen other lawmakers urging the U.S. Department of State and the international community to investigate the mass deportations of Haitian migrants and the discriminatory, anti-Black migration enforcement practices taking place in the Dominican Republic.\n\nIt is estimated that between August 1, 2022, and October 31, 2022, the Dominican Republic deported nearly 60,000 Haitians and people of Haitian ancestry.\n\nOn November 19, 2022, the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic issued a Level 2 Travel Advisory Alert citing \u201cOngoing Dominican Migration Enforcement.\u201d According to the alert, in recent months, \u201ctravelers to the Dominican Republic have reported being delayed, detained, or subject to heightened questioning at ports of entry and in other encounters with immigration officials based on their skin color.\u201d\n\nThe deportation of Haitian migrants run counter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker T\u00fcrk\u2019s, recent calls \u201cfor deportation to Haiti to stop, given the human rights and humanitarian crises the country is facing.\u201d\n\n\u201cGiven the historical context of Dominican Republic-Haiti relations, it is evident that race factors into the marginalized treatment of Haitian migrants by the Dominican Republic government. There is widespread video evidence that the National Police are targeting individuals who possess African-like phenotypic (i.e., Black) features and deporting them. Black citizens, residents, and migrants in the Dominican Republic are in such grave danger that even Black Americans have been cautioned against traveling to the country, as they are equally at risk of detention or deportation. If the Dominican Republic continues its discriminatory, anti-Black practices, we fear that Black people from all nations may be subjected to inhumane treatment by the Dominican Republic,\u201d said the Members. \u201cAdditionally, we request that the international community continue to call for the cessation of forced returns of Haitians to Haiti by all countries in the region, including the Dominican Republic, as the unremitting gang violence and systematic human rights violations in Haiti do not currently allow for the safe return of Haitians to Haiti.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:32:05Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cherfilus-mccormick.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-cherfilus-mccormick-and-over-dozen-lawmakers-urge-state"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.8847601022571325, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}