Latin American Research Review 601 Figure 1. International news coverage of the DR denationalization story. Based on a search of Nexis Uni news archives database; search terms Haiti and Dominican Republic, January 1, 2004–December 31, 2018; search of results with search term migrant. placed on hold mainly because of their inability to present all of the required documents.21 Although the DR extended the application period (from 90 to 180 days) for those placed on hold, only 550 more managed to complete their files. Dominican authorities reported that by November 2017, 5,401 people had received birth certificates and permanent regularization cards. By July 2020, only 750 individuals in group B had made it through the final step.22 Even if all of the original group of 5,401 applicants were to make it through, this number would represent but a tiny fraction of the total number of people in group B. The pathway back to citizenship has been so fraught with administrative entanglements that it has effectively kept tens of thousands of persons in legal limbo, at risk of deportation, and unsure of what to do. As almost none of them is a Haitian citizen either, they have no other nationality to fall back on.23 For those who did not initially access the registration procedures set out in Law 169-14, there is no other pathway to regain Dominican nationality (United States Department of State 2015, 23). Strategy success: Going off the international radar, 2016–present Stepping back from the details, the picture that emerges is that Dominican state officials methodically chipped away at the citizenship rights of Dominican-born descendants of migrants beginning in 2004. Since the slippage of citizenship status was gradual, human rights groups did not immediately address the problem. The issue garnered a substantial amount of international attention only when the most egregious abuses of power occurred, particularly in 2013. As the sharp downward turn in media coverage in the years following 2015 reflects (see figure 1), advocacy groups and organizations have lost steam 21 This comes from personal communication with the UNHCR division that works with the DR. “República Dominicana da la nacionalidad a 750 descendientes de haitianos,” Listin Diario, https://listindiario. com/la-republica/2020/08/09/630018/republica-dominicana-da-la-nacionalidad-a-750-descendientes-dehaitianos. 23 Dominican officials maintain that Haitian descendants can conceivably apply for Haitian citizenship under the jus sanguinis principle. For various reasons, legal and logistical, this is far easier said than done. 22 https://doi.org/10.1017/lar.2022.48 Published online by Cambridge University Press