Jacqueline Lyon

In 2010, the Dominican Republic made history as the first nation in the Americas to constitutionally eliminate birthright citizenship. Three years later, the country’s highest court upheld the retroactive revocation of citizenship for the children of non-citizen migrants, the majority of whom are of Haitian descent. This ethnographic research explores the emergence and impact of anti-birthright citizenship politics through the experiences of Dominicans of Haitian descent rendered stateless by these policies. It pays particular attention to how the gendered and generational inheritance of non-citizen status shapes experiences of motherhood.