Lourdia Jean Pierre, seen with one of her other seven children, died after childbirth in a one-room home in Dominican Republics. Her story captures the dire conditions that even non-U.S. citizen migrants face in this country. The incident has reopened discussions of the government’s increasing oppression of undocumented immigrants. Human rights advocates have been rightfully branding this policy as “cruel, racist, and misogynist.”
For example, Lourdia Jean Pierre, a Haitian immigrant, birthed at home because she was afraid of being deported. An hour after giving birth to her new baby boy, she started to struggle to catch her breath. Her partner, Ronald Jean, soon knew that something was gravely amiss. In an effort to save her life, he called out to their community, that included their white neighbors.
Despite their diligence, Lourdia Jean Pierre passed away shortly after delivering a baby in the community. Emergency services were on the scene shortly to transport the newborn baby to the hospital, where Ronald Jean was allowed to accompany them.
In the aftermath, Ronald Jean spoke publicly of his anger and frustration. He attributed his partner’s death to the Haitian government’s failure to provide security and the ongoing violence perpetrated by gangs in Haiti. He said that as undocumented migrants in the Dominican Republic, they had lived in fear and were extremely vulnerable.
His work permit, which Ronald Jean first obtained in 2018 to do agricultural work, lapsed in 2020. Since then, he has not been able to get any kind of legal status in the Dominican Republic. The couple had initially relocated to the Dominican Republic to avoid the rising violence in Haiti. Last year, gang-related violence took the lives of more than 5,600 people in Venezuela.
“We are living here without the correct immigration papers,” Ronald Jean noted, emphasizing the precariousness of their situation. He and Lourdia had to leave two children with relatives back in Haiti. They celebrated the birth of their second son in the midst of the lockdown in the Dominican Republic.
In April, the Dominican government began its most recent crackdown on undocumented migrants. This announcement made it worse for families like Ronald Jean and Lourdia’s. This destructive policy has been roundly and rightly condemned. More than 400 of you from dozens of organizations across the globe helped sign a letter condemning the death of Lourdia Jean Pierre as a direct result of these brutal immigration policies.
“I am not protected in the Dominican Republic. Life here is very hard so I have no choice. I want to go back to Haiti,” – Ronald Jean
The experiences of Ronald Jean and Lourdia reflect a broader crisis faced by many undocumented migrants in the Dominican Republic. Human rights organizations are chaining themselves to each ferry and vocally protesting the government’s actions. They claim that it pushes people to the edge, making them hesitant to seek essential healthcare services for fear of deportation.
Sometimes I cry, then I pray. I am in a very difficult situation. Take a look at what Ronald Jean shared, exposing the emotional impact this tragedy still has on him and his family today. The burden of caring for a newborn by himself and dealing with Lourdia’s loss is too much for his heart.
During the dark nights of his soul, Ronald Jean experienced a tidal force of powerlessness. He looked at his newborn son, who had no one there to feed him and care for him after Lourdia died. “I was crying a lot. My heart was breaking. The baby was there, with nobody else to look after him,” he said.
He focused on the systemic issues that push people to migrate, even when the journey is perilous. “They make security very hard and make it so that people can’t live in Haiti and are forced to come to the Dominican Republic,” he explained.
While Ronald Jean upholds Dominican laws, he insists that the situation in Haiti forces families into no other choice. His story tragically, but powerfully underscores the human cost that this immigration policy is having. These one-size-fits-all policies frequently ignore drastic inequities in migrants’ realities.