Dominican Republic Extends Residency Deadline

The Dominican Republic is giving people a few more hours to apply for legal residency as a Wednesday deadline caused long lines to form at offices handling the paperwork. Hundreds of people, mostly low-wage workers from neighboring Haiti, waited in line all night to submit residency applications under a registration initiative that began last June. Around 500,000 undocumented people living in the Dominican Republic face potential deportation under the plan. The country’s authorities have reportedly lined up a fleet of buses and established processing centers on the border with Haiti, prompting widespread fears of mass roundups of Dominicans of Haitian descent. The Dominican Republic has said migrants who can prove they entered the country before October 2011 can qualify for legal residency. Otherwise they could face deportation.