The Haitian ambassador to Washington, Lionel Delatour, while sharing “another vision that we must realize in order to lay the foundations that will allow Haiti to develop its economy and provide jobs to its formidable people,” argued that “our land border is part of the challenges Haiti faces in terms of security and organized crime,” during a cocktail held as part of the efforts for the renewal of the HOPE/HELP Act on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.

“The same gang networks that terrorize certain areas of Port-au-Prince also control trade at the border with the Dominican Republic. All kinds of commercial transactions, both legal and illegal, cross the border outside the control of the Haitian government and out of reach of Haitian customs officers, who are outnumbered and cannot be present at the legal border posts between the two countries,” said Ambassador Lionel Delatour, stressing that “our friends in the Dominican Republic are aware of this problem and many share our concern about it.”