President Donald Trump greets President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader at the Shield of the Americas Summit, March 7, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Opposition figures in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday criticized an agreement signed with the United States to have the Caribbean nation receive third-country deportees, saying it lacks transparency and violates national sovereignty.
The non-binding memorandum of understanding, which was announced on Tuesday by the Dominican Foreign Ministry, said the country will accept the temporary entry of a limited number of third-country nationals without criminal records before they return to their home countries.
The deal is the latest such agreement between the Trump administration and some countries in Latin America and Africa that has come under fire. The third-country deportations, costing millions of dollars, are part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown that includes deporting migrants to countries other than their own.
“This agreement represents a surrender of our national sovereignty,” Manolo Pichardo, from the opposition Fuerza del Pueblo party, told The Associated Press.
