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On the Implications of Immigration Policy Restricting Citizenship: Evidence from the Dominican Republic

Author

Listed:
  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina

    (University of California, Merced)

  • Gratereaux Hernández, Carlos

    (Ministry of Economics, Dominican Republic)

  • Pozo, Susan

    (Western Michigan University)

Abstract

In 2010, an amendment to the Dominican constitution weakened the concept of jus soli citizenship by denying Dominican nationality to individuals born on Dominican soil to irregular immigrants. A few years later, in 2013, the Dominican High Court denationalized large numbers of individuals by reinterpreting language in the prior constitution to, in effect, apply the newer citizenship requirements retroactively to 1929. We gauge the impacts of changes to Dominican citizenship laws on Haitian immigrants and their descendants, to whom, many believe, these policies were directed. We find that the constitutional amendment affected informal employment of some Haitians and their descendants. Furthermore, the High Court's ruling resulted in a significant reduction in the share of Haitian-descendant youth registered in school. Non-attendance was attributed primarily to lack of appropriate documents. Given the rise of nationalist sentiments and discussions to further restrict and revoking citizenship in various regions of the world today, it is important to further explore how these policies ultimately impact targeted and vulnerable populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Gratereaux Hernández, Carlos & Pozo, Susan, 2017. "On the Implications of Immigration Policy Restricting Citizenship: Evidence from the Dominican Republic," IZA Discussion Papers 10602, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10602
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Saurer, Judith & Felfe, Christina, 2014. "Granting Birthright Citizenship - A Door Opener for Immigrant Children's Educational Participation and Success?," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100548, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    2. Steinhardt, Max Friedrich, 2012. "Does citizenship matter? The economic impact of naturalizations in Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 813-823.
    3. Sarah Bohn & Magnus Lofstrom & Steven Raphael, 2014. "Did the 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act Reduce the State's Unauthorized Immigrant Population?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(2), pages 258-269, May.
    4. Christoph Sajons, 2016. "Does granting citizenship to immigrant children affect family outmigration?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 395-420, April.
    5. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Cynthia Bansak, 2014. "Employment Verification Mandates And The Labor Market Outcomes Of Likely Unauthorized And Native Workers," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(3), pages 671-680, July.
    6. John Bryant & Pungpond Rukumnuaykit, 2013. "The Labour Market Impacts of Immigration to Developing Countries: Evidence from a Registration Campaign in Thailand," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(6), pages 785-800, June.
    7. Ciro Avitabile & Irma Clots-Figueras & Paolo Masella, 2013. "The Effect of Birthright Citizenship on Parental Integration Outcomes," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 777-810.
    8. Jason Gagnon & David Khoudour-Castéras, 2012. "South-South Migration in West Africa: Addressing the Challenge of Immigrant Integration," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 312, OECD Publishing.
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    Cited by:

    1. Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Maxime Pirot, 2023. "From Refugees to Citizens: Labor Market Returns to Naturalization," Development Working Papers 489, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano, revised 11 Jun 2024.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    immigration policy; birthright citizenship; Dominican Republic; Haiti;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • F63 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Economic Development
    • F66 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Labor
    • F68 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Policy
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • K37 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Immigration Law

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