ID who had not started the residency application process. Instead of denying them assistance, they created a joint plan with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to document everyone.21 Returning to the Caribbean context, sometimes people who are outside of formal social assistance programs may choose not to make themselves visible for fear of possible detention and/or deportation (or even expulsion “from their own country” in the case of people born in Dominican territory) to Haiti if they do not have documentation proving their status in country. There was a partial moratorium on deportations during the beginning of the pandemic. When the new government took power in mid-August, it ordered the resumption of deportations by land to begin on September 21, 2020. The next section discusses study participants’ views on this change and their own experiences of voluntary or involuntary return. f) Voluntary and involuntary returns to Haiti The border is not entirely impermeable in this health emergency. In fact, the World Health Organization’s guidelines (WHO 2020) concur with the Dominican Republic and Haiti in maintaining a certain kind of opening of the border, as opposed to the absolute closure of other borders in the region, which has adverse effects for low-income migrants wanting to go “home.” Official figures reported by IOM Haiti (which is supporting the work of Haitian border officials) account for more than 200,000 spontaneous returns between March 17, 2020 and November 15, 2020 (IOM Haiti 2020). In addition, the official statistics of the DGM (General Directorate of Migration) report 23,664 deportation events by land in 2020, presumably the vast majority occurring when deportations resumed at the end of September 2020 (Listín Diario 2021a). Moreover, the DR Ministry of Defence reports that 31,116 people (mostly Haitians) were detained at the border in 2020 by the Specialized Land Border Security Corps (CESFRONT, in- Spanish).22 Despite this significant return migration flow due to the pandemic, only one study participant had traveled to Haiti during the pandemic. Olivier, a 55-yearold migrant, who was not registered in the PNRE, had Personal exchange between the author and a Uruguayan government civil servant, October 2020. 22 . Exchange between Ministry of Defence and OBMICA on May 21, 2021. 21. returned to his country for a specific health issue. He recalls observing the limited health protocols at the border: “Thank God I went back because I had an issue with a stomach disease. God sent me and brought me back…. Yes, there is water, alcohol to wash your hands and they have masks, they gave them for free [at the border].” However, many migrants shared experiences of arbitrary detentions and deportations in which they have been victims and/or they have seen, especially before the pandemic. Their testimonies also speak to broader concerns about deportability due to the expiration of their current documentation, and the discretionality with which authorities sometimes treat those with expired documents. Martine, a 26-year-old migrant woman registered in the PNRE, shared the following: “They say that if you don’t have papers they will send you to Haiti and if your papers are expired they will also send you. I’ve seen those who don’t have documents deported, but I haven’t seen them picking up people who have an expired document.” Another Haitian mother interviewed during a focus group was not as relaxed as she recalled recent declarations by President Abinader: “I think it’ll be harder because he says that all those who don’t have documents have go to Haiti. No one without documents should be on this land.” She also mentioned having witnessed disrespect for the specific needs of migrant women when recounting a difficult moment in her past: “A Haitian lady, she had a baby. She went to the market and left her child with the newborn baby in the house and Migration [General Directorate of Migration] went by and took that woman away. That woman was crying, even so, they didn’t leave that lady, they took her away.” In the present study, both Haitian consulate officials in Barahona and the social organizations that accompany migrants stated that in October 2020 pregnant Haitian women had been deported. They also said migrant women about to give birth in public hospitals had felt fearful of possible deportation after childbirth. Dominican law prohibits the detention of pregnant Research Brief: COVID-19 Impacts on Haitian Migrants and their Descendants on the Southern Border of the D.R. 27