Jus Soli and Jus Sanguinis: Politics, Race, Culture, and Citizenship in the Dominican Republic and Haiti

The promulgation of laws such as the Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court’s Judgment TC-168-13 serves as a basis upon which to argue the major impediments presented by the Dominican government to deny Haitians and Dominicans of Haitians descent citizenship. The right to citizenship is based on legal principles of jus soli and jus sanguinis and is recognized in a series of international legal documents. Following a Marxist framework, this research demonstrates the uncounted possible relationships between modern social forces and politics that have been working closely following European productions of knowledge for decades against Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic. Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent are not afforded the same constitutional rights and privileges as Dominicans because of their Blackness rooted in their African lineage. Judgment TC-168-13 is inherently a racist law that excludes Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent from procuring citizenship in the Dominican Republic