SANTO DOMINGO — The United States Embassy in the Dominican Republic has announced a new bilateral agreement that creates a formal legal framework for the temporary relocation of vetted third-country nationals from U.S. territory to the Dominican Republic, under strictly defined terms. This memorandum of understanding, the embassy clarifies, is restricted to a small, pre-vetted group of foreign individuals who have cleared comprehensive background checks and carry no criminal convictions. Two groups are explicitly barred from participation under the terms of the deal: Haitian nationals and unaccompanied minor migrants.
Officials from the United States emphasize the arrangement is designed to cut procedural red tape for U.S. deportation and repatriation processes, while fully upholding Dominican national legislation, sovereign authority, and established cross-border protocols. Under the agreement’s terms, U.S. law enforcement and immigration agencies will take full responsibility for coordinating the eventual onward travel of transferred individuals back to their respective countries of origin, removing that administrative and logistical burden from Dominican authorities.
The new migration pact is not a standalone measure, but rather a component of deeper long-term cooperation between Washington and Santo Domingo across multiple policy areas, including regional security governance, coordinated migration management, and joint counterterrorism and anti-transnational organized crime efforts. The announcement follows a shared Instagram post from U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Leah Campos, highlighting the diplomatic milestone between the two neighboring partners in the Western Hemisphere.