Dominican Republic reversed refusal, agreed to accept US third-country deportees

On May 12, 2026, the Dominican Republic's Foreign Ministry announced it had signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with the United States under the administration's "Shield of the Americas" initiative, agreeing to allow the temporary and "exceptional" entry of a limited number of third-country nationals deported from the U.S. before their return to their countries of origin. The reversal was sharp: President Luis Abinader's government had previously said the Dominican Republic would accept "only Dominicans, who we have the duty and the right to do so," and opposition figure Manolo Pichardo of the Fuerza del Pueblo party called the new deal a "surrender of sovereignty."

The agreement excludes Haitian nationals, unaccompanied children, and anyone with a criminal record, and treats transferred individuals as being "in transit" through the country — a status Dominican law does not limit by time, according to Global Detention Project's analysis. U.S. Ambassador Leah Campos said the arrangement would let the U.S. "more efficiently remove and repatriate third-country nationals while still respecting Dominican sovereignty." Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez said the following day that the Dominican Republic would receive around 30 third-country deportees per month, with stays of roughly seven to fifteen days, under a one-year agreement with all operational costs covered by the U.S.; he acknowledged the government had "not yet identified" where the deportees would be housed, though they would be "permanently under surveillance." As of this filing, no transfers under the agreement had been publicly confirmed.