United States ditches the “racism” travel alert to the Dominican Republic

The United States Department of State eliminated the travel alert to the Dominican Republic for racism issued on November 9, 2022. However, it maintains an active warning for crime, sexual assault, and homicide at level 2 for Santo Domingo.

Congressmen Adriano Espaillat and María Salazar broke the news through Twitter, where they stated that the Caribbean country should never have been accused of racism.

“Following my requests to Sec. Blinken and @StateDept, a new travel advisory have been issued for the Dominican Republic, which removed the previous alert that @RepMariaSalazar and I opposed,” Espaillat wrote.

The New York official added that the DR is an ally and will continue to work “to strengthen ties that are crucial to both our nations and the region.”

While Salazar said: “I am happy about the suspension of the travel alert to the Dominican Republic, thanks to the efforts of RepEspaillat and myself. There is still a lot to work with Pdte @luisabinader to eliminate the consequences of this slander ».

The alert states that “in some cases, the authorities have not respected the legal status of these people in the Dominican Republic or their nationality. These actions may increase interaction with Dominican authorities, especially for darker-skinned and African Americans.

There are reports that detainees are held in overcrowded detention centers, unable to challenge their detention and without access to food or toilets, sometimes for days, before being released or deported to Haiti.”