Dominican Deportation Policy Draws Miami Protest

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Haitians taking to the streets by the thousands in the Dominican Republic, hasn't stopped the D.R. from moving forward with plans to round up and deport hundreds of thousands of undocumented and documented Haitian migrants.

In Miami Wednesday, a group of protestors gathered, chanting "enough is enough!"

The Miami demonstrators called the Dominican Republic's deportation policy racist.

Dominican's are light skinned and the nation has a Jim Crow-like history of treatment of blacks. The new immigration law spares no one from possible eviction including children of Haitian descent born in the D.R. - natural-born citizens.

"We will not stop until justice is done, and this is injustice," North Miami Councilman Alix Desulme told the crowd.

Misery in Haiti is forcing people to try to leave the country by the overloaded boat full. Critics say the D.R.'s deportation blitz is sending people back to a nation already steeped in poverty and disease.

"They need to stop that injustice. They need to stop that discrimination," said Rep. Daphne Campbell/(D-FL District 108). " Guess what? If they don't stop, we all are going to call a big boycott."

A boycott with traction could hurt. Florida alone spends some $9 billion a year on tourism and trade in the the D.R.

"If we're not hitting them in their pockets, they're not going to stop what they're doing," said Francesca Menes of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. "So we need to boycott, boycott, boycott!"

The group later descended on the Dominican consulate in Miami. They were greeted politely by a staff member at the door, and left a resolution demanding that the Dominican Republic change its immigration policy. Representatives of the group were denied an audience with the Consul General.

The Dominican Republic has defended its immigration law, saying it was approved by lawmakers two years ago and has been upheld by the nation's high court.

While Haitians and human rights groups are outraged, the United States, the United Nations - the world - has largely remained silent on the D.R.'s dramatic shift in immigration policy toward Haitians.