Perceived and Pursued Opportunities from Mass Deportation Threats: The Case of Haitian Migrant-Serving Nonprofit Organizations in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

The threat of deportation is a common experience shared by migrants around the world. Migrant-serving nonprofit organizations must also contend with these threats. While there is considerable research on how nonprofits serve migrants, there is a lack of research that explores what mass deportation threats may mean for nonprofits actors and their work. In order to address this gap, this study explores the case of the Dominican Republic where there was widespread fear that mass removals would occur after the closing of the National Regularization Plan for Foreigners on June 17, 2015. Using semi-structured interviews with 20 nonprofit actors from Haitian-migrant serving organizations, a qualitative content analysis reveals three main themes that capture how nonprofits perceived and pursued opportunities from the threat of deportation. They include the opportunity to grow, the opportunity to advocate, and the opportunity to learn and educate. This research is important for shedding light on the organizational resilience of migrant-serving nonprofits in the Dominican Republic and offers insight into how policies might be developed to support nonprofits as they address migration policies in their work.