How the United States Shaped the Dominican Republic’s Immigration Enforcement Machine

How the U.S. Created the Dominican-Haiti Border

The episode traces the origins of the modern Dominican-Haiti border to U.S. intervention in 1905, when the U.S. imposed a customs receivership on the DR to collect debts and prevent European invasion. This led to the creation of the Dominican Border Guard, which transformed an amorphous frontier into a heavily policed border. The U.S. military occupation of both nations from 1915–1934 further entrenched racial hierarchies and anti-Haitian sentiment.

Trujillo’s Reign and the Institutionalization of Anti-Haitianism

Dictator Rafael Trujillo, trained by the U.S. military, used the border as a tool of ethnic cleansing. In 1947, he ordered the Parsley Massacre, killing 20,000 Haitians. He also created the DGM and forced Haitians into sugar plantations, establishing a system of labor exploitation that persists today. The 2013 La Sentencia ruling stripped 245,000 people of citizenship, creating a stateless population.

The Modern Deportation Machine and Systemic Abuse

The DGM now conducts mass deportations—379,553 in 2025—using repurposed horse trucks and extorting detainees. Detention centers are overcrowded, unsanitary, and lack medical care. Pregnant women and children are routinely deported. The U.S. has trained Dominican border forces, including CESFRONT, which patrols a U.S.-style border wall.

The Globalization of U.S. Border Enforcement

The U.S. exports its immigration enforcement model globally. Through training programs and funding, it has helped shape border systems in countries like the DR. This creates a transnational network of border violence, where migrants are detained and deported before reaching U.S. soil. The system is designed to keep people out, not to protect citizens.