By Pau Mompó Alberola
Sabana de la Mar, Dominican Republic (EFE).— Dozens of Dominicans are deported from the United States each week, returning on flights to Santo Domingo after leaving behind families, jobs, and hopes of a better future. Many come from Sabana de la Mar, a fishing town in eastern Hato Mayor province, long a departure point for irregular boat journeys to Puerto Rico.
This year, US authorities have deported around 2,100 Dominicans with irregular migration status, according to official data.
Among them is Fausto Espino, a father of six from Sabana de la Mar, who worked for seven years as a cabinetmaker in Puerto Rico after reaching the island on a wooden fishing boat, known locally as a yola, in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017.
“I was arrested in front of my house when I came home from work,” Espino told EFE.
He was first taken to San Juan, then Aguadilla, Miami, and finally Texas, where he spent a month in detention.
He was later deported on a US government-chartered flight from Louisiana carrying hundreds of Dominicans back to Santo Domingo.
“The salary there is not the same as here. In the Dominican Republic, you have to fight hard to earn 5,000 pesos a month,” Espino said, noting that his earnings in Puerto Rico helped support his family.
From Puerto Rico to US detention centers
Luis Alberto Tejada, a 35-year-old construction worker also from Sabana de la Mar, was deported last month after two years in Puerto Rico.
His remittances helped renovate his mother’s house back home.
“The only problem we had was now with Donald Trump,” Tejada said, referring to the stricter migration policy since the US president’s return to office.
Tejada was arrested while cashing checks at a bank in Puerto Rico. “It was as if the bank called the authorities to come get us,” he recalled.
He was transferred to Louisiana, where he spent one day in a detention center alongside “Dominicans, Africans, Chinese, Spaniards, people from all over the world.”
Later, he was moved to the Krome detention center in Florida, where he spent 15 days in a large tent facility holding 126 detainees per section. Like Espino, Tejada was deported by air to Santo Domingo along with about 200 other passengers.
Few options back home
Now back in Sabana de la Mar, Tejada plans to continue working as a tiler but admits opportunities are scarce.
“There are very few jobs for young people in this town,” he said. “I wish more jobs were created so that the youth don’t have to take the sea again to Puerto Rico.”
Despite the risks, irregular migration routes between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico remain active.
For many, the economic gap between the islands continues to outweigh the dangers of detention and deportation. EFE
pma/seo