Introducing ‘unwanted’ noncitizens 51 origin. Not least, in 1937, Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo gave orders leading to the deaths of thousands of people identified as ‘ethnic Haitians’.34 The complex use of ethnicity, indigeneity and race in the constructions of power and entitlement – and of irregularity and status – on Hispaniola illustrates how contingent these matters can be.35 Like many in the Americas, the 1929 Dominican Constitution gives automatic jus soli citizenship to anyone born within the State’s territory, with the exception of those born to persons ‘in transit’ or to diplomats. This ‘in transit’ exception has dogged those identified as Haitians in the country. They were reportedly often classified as being in transit, on the basis that ‘all Haitians were “in transit” ’.36 In 2013, what changed was that also persons with formal Dominican Republic citizenship, considered to be ‘of Haitian descent’, would lose their citizenship, and those without any other citizenship, would thereby become stateless.37 The rationale given was that these individuals had been irregular immigrants and, as such, had only ever been ‘in transit’. The notion of ‘irregularity’ was wielded in order to render people stateless and the statelessness in turn made them irregular immigrants and apparently deportable. The individuals affected were already suffering racial discrimination, impeding their ability to exercise their formal citizenship fully. The removal of formal citizenship formalised and deepened their noncitizen-vulnerability in the context of the State system.38 This case demonstrates the need for protection of, and access to, appropriate citizenship. And yet, it also shows that the problems associated with statelessness result not so much from the loss of citizenship alone as from the much wider situation of discrimination that was behind the loss of citizenship in the first place.39 Kristy Belton describes excluded persons of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere in the Caribbean as ‘noncitizen insiders’.40 She describes statelessness in this case, then, as ‘a form of forced displacement that immobilizes them in situ’.41 33 33 For example, see Junot Díaz’s now classic novel on the Dominican Republic: Junot Díaz (2008) The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Faber & Faber. 34 Bridget Wooding (2003) ‘Contesting discrimination and statelessness in the Dominican Republic’, pp. 23–25 in Forced Migration Review 32, p. 23; Blake 2014 ibid. p. 144. 35 Bridget Wooding (2008) ‘Contesting Dominican Discrimination and Statelessness’ pp. 366–375 in Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice 20. 36 Blake 2014 ibid. p. 149. 37 Blake 2014 ibid. p. 163. 38 Consider Lindsey Kingston’s discussion in: Lindsey Kingston (2014) ‘Statelessness As a Lack of Functioning Citizenship’, pp. 127–135 in Tilburg Law Review 19. Introduced in Chapter 1. 39 For example, see Lindsey Kingston (2017) ‘Worthy of Rights: Statelessness As a Cause and Symptom of Marginalisation’, pp. 17–34 in Tendayi Bloom, Katherine Tonkiss and Phillip Cole (eds) (2017) Understanding Statelessness, Routledge. 40 Kristy Belton (2011) ‘The Neglected Non-Citizen: Statelessness and Liberal Political Theory’, Journal of Global Ethics 7(1). 41 Kristy Belton (2015) ‘Rooted Displacement: The Paradox of Belonging Among Stateless People’, Citizenship Studies 19(8) p. 908.