Dominican Republic Migration Agency reports over 704,000 deportations in 22 months

The Dirección General de Migración (DGM) of the Dominican Republic announced that it has deported 704,142 irregular migrants in the past 22 months, a surge driven by a major restructuring of the agency. Director Vice Admiral Luis Rafael Lee Ballester said the force grew from 235 agents to 1,272 operational officers, with additional staff assigned to intelligence, legal and internal tasks. New resources have been allocated for planning, technology upgrades, training and vehicle fleets.

Lee Ballester also reported that, as of 2026, the DGM has exceeded 704,000 repatriations, most of them Haitian nationals. The agency processes detainees through biometric registration and uses real‑time databases to speed up returns, often completing the process within 24 hours. Daily operations involve more than 1,000 interdictions and repatriations, supported by around 24 trucks and 32 operational points across the country, with a recent addition of 60 new vehicles to the fleet.