THE RISK OF STATELESSNESS 64 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS & DEVELOPMENT L.J. 2017 [Vol. 19 decades.98 Notably, Dominican Independence Day celebrates independence from Haiti.99 The history of the right to Dominican nationality at birth reflects the history of the island itself. In 1844, when the Dominican Republic became independent from Haiti, it promulgated a protectionist Constitution that gave birthright citizenship only to children born to Dominicans.100 In 1858, the Dominican Republic changed course and incorporated a broad rule of birthright nationality in a manner consistent with most other countries in the Americas, guaranteeing Dominican nationality to all persons born in the national territory.101 In the decades that followed, there were slight adjustments to this absolute rule of birthright nationality.102 In 1929, a new formulation was included in the Constitution that would provide the rule of birthright nationality in the Dominican Republic for more than 80 years.103 This provision pronounced that Dominican nationality would be granted to anyone born in the nation’s territory, with the exception of those people born to foreigners in diplomatic service or “in transit.”104 Surprisingly, no clear definition of “in transit” was provided at the time, and no legislation directly addressed this constitutional language for 75 years.105 This is surprising in part because Haitian migration towards the Dominican Republic flowed nearly unencumbered through a clearly demarcated though porous border throughout the Twentieth Century.106 This migration took place to supply labor in the agricultural, construction, and domestic service sectors, and led to notable contributions by Haitians to socio-cultural life in the Dominican Republic.107 Hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants made the Dominican Republic their home108 and their children were considered Dominican under the prevailing interpretation of the Dominican Constitution.109 Discrimination and state-authored violence towards the Haitian 98. See SAIS Int’l Human Rights Clinic, Torn at the Seam: Migration, Deportations, and Humanitarian Concerns on the Island of Hispaniola, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV. SCH. OF ADV. INT’L STUD. (SAIS), 14-20 (2016), https://www.sais-jhu.edu/sites/default/files/torn-at-theseam_sais-ilaw-hrc-2016.pdf [https://perma.cc/XE85-5ZEX]. 99. Id. at 14. 100. PRIMERA CONSTITUCIÓN DOMINICANA [FIRST DOMINICAN CONSTITUTION], Nov. 6, 1844, art. 7 (Dom. Rep.). 101. TCRD, 25 septiembre 2013, Sentencia TC/0168/13, pp. 49-50. 102. Id. pp. 50-51. 103. Id. pp. 49-52. 104. REVISIÓN DE 20 DE JUNIO DE 1929 DE LA CONSTITUCIÓN DE LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA [JUNE 20, 1929 REVISION TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC], June 20, 1929, art. 8(2). 105. See infra note 117 and accompanying text. 106. See Hannam, supra note 12, at 1133. 107. See id. 108. See Case of Expelled Dominicans and Haitians v. Dominican Republic, Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs, Judgment, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) No. 282, ¶ 157 (Aug. 28, 2014). 109. See id. ¶¶ 289-91, 295 (explaining changes in interpretation of the Constitution and the view prevailing until at least 2004). Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3111529